Persona: Forever Judged
by Chaoticprime
Summary: Persona Goodness


Persona: Forever Judged  
  
By Chaoticprime  
  
This is my first ever fanfic, so bear with me. Also, I only hope my warped little mind can hope to achieve the heir of strangeness within the world that is Shin Megami Tensei Persona.   
  
"I dreamt I was a butterfly. I couldn't tell if I was dreaming. But when I woke, I was I and not a butterfly. Was I dreaming that I was the butterfly, or was the butterfly dreaming that it was I? Even if there's a difference between the butterfly and I, the distinction isn't absolute. And there is no relationship of cause and effect."  
--Soshi  
  
  
12 Hours  
Chapter One  
  
  
The stars seemed to stare down upon the city. As what is customary, the city of Shinjisho' s high concentration of lights disallows the view of the stars. However, tonight was not as such.   
What is called a 'black out' had left the city as dark this night as the hearts of the demons that now patrolled its streets. No longer was scraping in shadows and hiding beyond the folds of the dimensions to be their lot in life.   
One such demon merrily skipped down the center of Amano Street. In its typical day, Amano Street laid an open pathway for travelers searching to seek out the numerous shops it was renowned for. This demon, Jack Frost, seemed an off fair of its race. A blue hat, two jagged points bobbed back and forth atop it, capped its oversized white head. Its petite body was dressed in a frill of blue material; a small white ball topped each tip. As is pranced, a tiny little bell on its hat jingled. The rhythmic ringing of said bell was the only sound to be heard.   
Jack Frost's black, round eyes appeared to stare upon nothing as it made its way down Amano Street. Such a melancholy portent for the disaster to come.   
The man who stood upon the corner of Amano Street narrowed his eyes as the demon danced on past him. Dressed in an all black leisure suit, black hair rolled down his back. Thin, pale, lips parted to show off elongated canines as he spoke to himself, "Doth it be the time for the Wings of Darkness to take their lift from the depths of the Mind's Eye and pervade this world? I cannot help but ponder what fate awaits this city? Odd, how events chance to occur in the most inopportune of times."  
The Man in Black reached into the folds of his coat pocket. Feeling his way through the smooth velvet, his hand closed over a small object. Withdrawing it, the object proved to be a silver stopwatch. However, as the second hand passed over the 12, it continued on to the number 13. Ticking along, the hour hand just ticked along the one.  
  
The Man in Black sighed, "Only 12 hours. Can Philemon's host overcome the Wings of Darkness, or shall a direr fate befall this reality. Of course, in the long run, Tis but one of many..."  
At this, his sentence trailed off. His image blurred and faded from view totally.   
Jack Frost continued to happily stroll down the street. Unbeknownst, even to the devil that it originated from, the sounds of the bells proved to start what would become a nightmare.  
  
The sound of a ringing bell whispered in the sleeping ears of the boy named Suikashi Tasheta. His eyes slowly opening, he paid little notice to the blurry shadows cast from moonlight that illuminated his bedroom wall, it was the sound that disturbed him.  
When the black out had first happened, at around eight this evening, the sounds of misdirected traffic filled the air. The streets of Shinjisho had been thoroughly strangled with derelict cars by nine, and by then, the sounds had diminished. Now, the quiet evening that had became a restless one for Sui, was disrupted by the foreign presence of a new sound.  
As Sui turned back the shades to his window, he was already to late to see Jack Frost on his nighttime escapade; however, he was guest to a more peculiar sight.   
Outside his house, across Amano street, a lone streetlight shown with its light. Like a sole star on a barren sky, the lone lamp stood out unlike any other. Beneath this lamp, a man, clothed entirely in black, stood with his eyes fixed on an object in his hand. As he buried the focused on hand into a pocket, he looked up. His eyes formed a single line of sight with Sui' s, and then he simply vanished.   
A cold chill moved throughout Sui' s body. Not a typical guest to such rare occurrences, he did not wish to be left astray on this one. Looking about his darkened floor, he rummaged for something to wear. It was hardly decent to travel about anywhere dressed in one's underwear. After failing to find anything worth wearing, and not wishing to be forced into a trek through his darkened closet, he noticed his school uniform hanging from the back of his desk chair.   
Donning the garb, he quickly fastened the series of blue buttons that trailed their way up the gray material. After locating and applying his black dress shoes, Sui made his way for his bedroom door.   
It was not an issue to navigate his way through his sleeping home. Neither of his parents, nor his sister would notice his egression. Passing by a mirror, he noticed that his dark blonde hair looked as if he had been caught in a windstorm. His reflection in the mirror, only brought to life by the moonlight through a window, failed to illuminate his features, giving him a somewhat demonic appearance. The dark pits that should be his eyes seemed to look back at him. "You know Suikashi," he asked himself, "I bet you are glad that looks alone cannot kill?"  
As Sui closed and locked the door to his home, he felt a faint breeze carry a whisper across his mind. "You know, Suikashi? Looks alone can kill."  
At this he whirled around. Beneath the streetlight, a small object caught his attention. With a reflexive glance both ways down the street, he quickly traveled over to the lamp. At it's base, he found what he had been in search of. A card.   
A small card, roughly 6 inches high, and 3 long, the word, EMPEROR was scrawled across the top. In the center of the card, a figure dressed in green armor, holding a golden sword with waving black hair was drawn. The material of the card felt as if hewn from some metal, yet it bent like paper.   
Sui held the card feeling a mysterious warmth that emanated from its inside. Finally, he noticed another word written at the bottom of the card, the word Susano.   
"Is it a name?"  
"Yes. It is your name."  
The new voice made Sui jumped, shoving the card in his pocket; he stepped into an offensive martial stance. Seven years of the martial arts came to his mind, as he sought out the voice's owner.  
From the shadows to the side of the lamp came the Man in Black. His long dark hair shone in the lamplight. Tailed in the back, in hung down across one shoulder. His dark black suit seemed to stand out from even that of the night. However, most intriguing was his eyes. Solid white, with no sign of a pupil.   
Sui tried his best not to stare. Letting down off his guard, he spoke to the man, "Who are you?"  
Both hands in his pockets, he stepped forward, "I am what is another someplace other than here. For, no one is anyone. Yet is everyone."  
Frustrated, Sui talked back, "Why do you speak in riddles, what are you doing here?"  
This time, the Man in Black seemed more than eager to reply, "I do not speak in riddles, but in absolute truths. And as to what I am doing in this place," he paused, "I am keeping track of time."  
Taking the card from his pocket, he held it aloft, so as to view it in the lamplight. "Why did you say that this was my name? I have not a clue as to who that this person is."  
The Man in Black sighed, his eyes narrowed, yet where they looked was indeterminable. "Who are you?" He mocked, "No one is anyone. Everyone is everyone. Everything is something. Inside each person lies an infinite number of persons. An infinite number of Personas. For in you, there is another you, who is, in fact, yet another you altogether. Do you understand yet?"  
"So, this is another me. I am Susano?"  
"Or Susano is you."  
Sui put a hand to his head, "This is all so confusing. Tell me, who, in this place, are you?"  
The Man in Black smiled, "My name, in this place, is Kurokei. I am the Master of Punishment. The Wings of Darkness have opened unto your world, and only those who know of Persona, can hope to embattle it."  
Sui questioned, "The Wings of Darkness?"  
"Yes," Kurokei began, "the Antithesis. What is there, but which is not. On such wings, the blind Fates cannot hope to digress from its whim. It is in certain interests that the Antithesis not be allowed to move into this plane. That card in your hands is their reasoning against it. Call it, an Antithesis on it's own."  
Sui looked forlorn, "You propose, that I use this card, to defer the 'Wings of Darkness' from coming to my world."  
Kurokei looked pleased, "I see you are beginning to understand. Now, let us see you if can figure out the secret of the Persona. Until we meet again, adieu!"  
With this, Kurokei left Sui standing alone. In the dark.   
As Sui turned to walk back to his house, a new sound echoed out from down the street, the sounds of screaming.  
Pivoting on one foot, he looked as hard as he might down the long road. Yet, the darkness obscured and decent view. Speaking to himself, he jested, "It looks as if this night has only just begun."  
The sounds of his shoes made a loud clacking sound as they contacted the pavement. The screams were audibly closer, and it was to Sui' s luck to find its origin in fine moonlight.   
Pushed far against the outside wall of the convenience store, a girl brandished a broken bottle against a small group of dark shapes. Seeing this, Sui yelled out, "Get away from her!"  
As his voice made his presence known, he saw the girl's eyes dart to his. Then, her eyes turned to watch the entire shapes move towards Sui.   
Coming into direct moonlight, he saw them to be wolf like creatures that walked on two legs. Their eyes glowed a deep yellow, and saliva dripped from protruding, curved fangs. Four of them total, Sui could only stand in shock as they lunged for him.  
Catching his wits at the last second, he sidestepped and sent his right fist into the first one's ribs. The creature was flung off of him, just as his sidekick swept another one in the side of the face. At this sight, the third and fourth ones backed away. Collecting themselves, the other two moved around Sui, and the four of them stood gathered several feet away.   
As both Sui and the girl watched, the bodies of the beasts faded from their view, till only their eyes were visible. Then, the red orbs that designated their eyes began to drift together, until they all formed two large eyes. The eyes moved upwards, until they were nearly ten feet from the ground.  
At this, the creatures, or creature, once more became visible. A large wolfen looking monstrosity loomed above Sui. A set of crooked horns curved along the sides of its head. Four monstrously bestial arms tensed giant muscles, and razor-like taloned nails cut into the pavement from their place on its feet.   
A deep growl escaped its mouth, and a steady flow of saliva followed soon after. Lurching forth, the beast came at Sui. Not letting fear get the better of him, Sui began circling with the monster, until its back was facing the girl. Once more taking his martial stance, he waited for the monster's attack.  
It attacked not unlike thunder. A loud cone of sound was blown from its maw. Sui could only hold his ears as his head pounded and his eyes watered. He fell to his knees, and he truly felt hopeless. It was at this time, that something fell from his hold, and hit the ground. He opened his eyes long enough to see the faint outline of his card. As the beast stepped forward, intent on a swift kill, one word found its way out of Sui' s lips, Persona.  
The creature stepped back and covered its eyes as a pillar of blue light exploded from Sui. Symbols of unknown origin flamed onto the ground, and as soon as they had appeared, they were gone. In the wake of the blue light, floating above Sui, stood the spectral image of the green warrior depicted on the card.   
In a voice that seemed to have no origin, words manifested, "I am Susano O! I am the God of Storms. All who stand before my might will be struck down by the power of the Murakumo Sword!"  
As it said, the image drew forth a large golden sword. The blade was double edged and had no hilt. At its pommel, was a large silver ring with a red tassel that dangled about in space.   
Holding the blade overhead, Susano brought it back down with terrible force. The body of the demon monster shook as the blade of light met with its form.  
As the sword touched the ground, the vision of Susano was gone. Sui looked up from his crouched position and saw the monster. Deathly still, it slowly moved as if to fall, then it slipped into two pieces, cut vertically. No sooner had the forms met with the pavement, than they dematerialized out of existence.   
Panting, Sui pressed his hands to the ground to gain some leverage as he stood. Sweeping the dust from the knees of his uniform, he stood looking at the girl. Dressed in black jeans, with slashes across the hips so as they exposed portions of the legs, and a green T-shirt with a depiction of a dragon on it, she stepped forward, dropping the bottle. As it collided with the ground and broke into shards, she ran up to Sui.  
"Who are you? And what the hell did you just do?!"  
Sounding more excited than in shock, Sui fumbled with his words as he responded, "Ah! Um! Well, that was my Persona. I suppose?" The words sounded odd coming from him. He wished Kurokei were here to explain better.  
Her bright orange dyed hair was in better view as she came closer to him, looking him all over. "I don't suppose you would mind telling me what a Persona is. And, aren't you a little late for school?"  
Once again caught by her effrontery, Sui suddenly felt out of place in his school's uniform. "I just grabbed the first clothes I saw. Hey! Shouldn't you be thanking me?"  
"I suppose that would be in order," a sarcastic tone was fluid in her voice. "My name is Tasaki Murakawa, age 17. I attend Miyoshi Ona Women's High School, and I am in the 11th grade. Pleased to meet you" After this, she made a slight bow, her hands crossed in front of her waist. "Now it is your turn."  
"Well," Sui began, " My name is Suikashi Tasheta, age 19. I go to Earnheart Senior High School, and am in the 12th grade. Pleased to meet you." He then bowed, his hands at his sides.  
"Now that we are acquainted," she started, "Maybe you can tell me what in the hell is going on?"  
Putting his hand to the back of his head, "I only wished I knew."   
Sui related the events of the evening to Tasaki up to where he has heard her screaming. "It is a good thing for you that you scream so loud."  
The smirk on his face set her off, "Ha! I suppose you think I'm some helpless girl don't you! Well, I did not need your help. I'm the all female champion in my schools Kobudo team."  
"Okay, okay. I will take your word for it!"  
Looking hardly satisfied, she began again, "So, this strange Kurokei guy just shows up and hands you a card. Then, all of the sudden, you start making giant green guys show up and cut up demons?"  
Sui kinda blinked, "More or less."  
"COOL! I want to do it too. Show me how!"  
"I...don't think I can."  
Tasaki's face turned red, "Come one! You're NOT holding out on me!"  
Trying to evade her as she put him in a headlock, he stammered out, "Honest! I just got scared. Then I said 'Persona', and that guy appeared.   
Releasing him, she put her hand to her chin, "Well, if what Kurokei said was true, than all people have other selves. I have read about this sort of thing in one of my occult books. Was it the Wang Long one? Never mind, anyway, I think I know what to do."  
Bringing Sui along, she guided him back to where he had first encountered her. Keeping along down the way, she entered an alley, and there, stopped at a set of metal rail stairs. "Heh," she laughed, "I was trying to take out my trash when those things jumped me. I tell you, since this blackout happened, the oddest things have been going on!"   
Not taking time to look at the mass piles of trash resultant from split trash bags, Sui followed Tasaki up the stairs. At their summit, she used a small brass key to unlock a ruddy looking white door. The paint was all flaked and look as if to fall off.  
As the door creaked open, she hurried inside, "Wait here," she called out. After a moment of waiting, the room lit up. Traveling around the room with a lighter, she was putting a flame to an unbelievable amount of candles mounted on everything from her television to her dining table.  
Now lighted, Sui could make out the room. Quite small, there was a couch in the center, next to that, a coffee table. In front of both of these, was a small entertainment center hosting a television and stereo. On the other side, a small kitchen area gave way to an equally minute space that held a table and two chairs. Literally, books and magazines were scattered everywhere.   
As Tasaki moved to light a large white candle on her dining table, Sui picked up a large black book that was resting on her bed. The cover read, "Shin Megami Tensei." Setting it down, he moved about taking in some other books.   
"Wow, you really are into the occult, aren't you?"  
"What?" She's called as she finished up with a couple of final candles in her kitchen. The culminated scent of over a dozen different scented candles now made its way towards Sui.  
"I said that you really are into occult stuff. With all these books and all."   
Putting the lighter back in her pocket, she sat on the couch, brushing away a stack of magazines. Rummaging through a small pile of books on the floor, she absentmindedly said, "Yeah, has always been a hobby of mine."  
A small sound that could only be glee came from her as she brought up a book from the floor. "This is a book about a fad that was really popular over in Lunarvale about five years ago. It is called Persona. I thought that it might put a lid on my questions."  
Sui sat next to her, looking over her arm to see the book. "Yeah, maybe so.  
As they looked through the book, Sui noticed that it was set up like an instruction manual. "Man," she blurted out, "This is one crazy ass book."  
Sui stood again, stretched his arms, and replied, "Well, what do you expect with an author named Igor?"  
Setting the book down, she stood up next to Sui. Eying him mischievously, she pushed him down on the couch, then walked over to the kitchen. Sui sat quietly until he heard the sound of a refrigerator opening. Tasaka' s footsteps announced her return.  
Bearing two bottles of beer, she tossed him one. "Here."  
As she popped open hers, Sui simply stared at his. Never having drunk before, he looked reluctant to do anything. Looking annoyed, she yanked the bottle from him and popped the cap off. "You are 19, remember, you are old enough to drink."  
"But your not."  
She winked at him, "And who's tellin'?" Her statement was cut off by a long pull on the bottle.   
Not wishing to incur her wrath, Sui brought the bottle to his lips and allowed the brash liquid to wash down his throat. Deciding it was not so bad, he took another drink and then set the bottle on a nearby in table.   
Tasaka laughed, "It's a hell of a lot better than water."  
Sui remarked, "I suppose."  
"Awwe," Tasaka whined, "What is wrong?"  
"Weren't you gonna try and figure out something about this Persona thing?"  
"Oh yeah." Was her reply!  
Setting the beer down, she closed her eyes and looked intense. Finally, she yelled out, "PERSONA!!!"  
After several moments, she cried out, "Dammit!"  
"What?" Sui asked.  
Looking rather shamefaced, Tasaki moaned, "That is all it said. You are supposed to be able to invoke your other self by calling out Persona."  
Sui grimaced, "Maybe you have to really need it to. Like when I was fighting that demon?"  
"I bet that is it!"  
"What is, the demon?"  
Pulling him to his feet, she said again, "Of course it is! What else could trigger such a change in the spirit world as the presence of demons? I bet this whole city is covered with them!"  
Not looking entirely healthy, he moaned, "What then, do you propose that me and you go looking for those things? That is just plain crazy! I need to go back home, if my mom finds me gone, I am dead!"  
"Don't worry about them. You will be fine. Parents are made to be fooled. Why do you think I live alone?"  
"Why do you live alone?"  
Sighing, "Cause I fooled my parents too much, and they kicked me out, of course!"  
Her enlightened tone of voice did little to ease his apprehensiveness. "Well then, where should we go to find more demons?"  
"That is what I was thinking. Maybe we should go someplace dark. I know! The park!"  
"The park?"  
Tasaki began looking around, finally, she picked up a pair of steel rimmed Tonfa. "See, the park is dark, big, and generally a nice place to get mugged. Naturally it is the best place to go."  
Sui cracked his knuckles and sighed, "I suppose so."  
"Quit being so gloomy," she spun the tonfa, "this might be fun!"  
As the two exited her apartment, the lone figure of Kurokei stood perched atop a nearby rooftop. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew the stopwatch.   
Click.  
  
11 Hours  
Chapter Two  
  
  
Nasaka Park was as dark, if not darker than the rest of Shinjisho City. The dark forms of the normally pleasant looking trees only served to darken the already dismal spirit of Sui. Not truly wishing to be here, he did not feel so out of fear, simply out of discomfort. He had never been fond of the woods. Tasaka moved ahead of him be several feet as she made a running jump so as to get a grip on the seven-foot high wall. She managed to land a sufficient hold on the brick surface, and she called down to Sui, "Are you coming?"  
Sui followed as she had done and scaled the wall with much more ease. His lanky legs easily propelled him to do so. Pushing his rather thin frame over the edge, he was soon standing next to Tasaka. "Well," he stated, "what now?"  
Tasaka walked along the wall's top. Skipping over a large crack, she said, " I guess we climb down."  
Rolling his eyes, Sui made the small leap to the grassy ground. As he landed, the slippery greenery took his footing from him, and he was sent rolling down a small hill, ending up at the foot of a tiny stream. The sound of which seemed the only noise at all.  
Finding his way back to standing, he was prepared to call out to Tasaka that he was fine, when he heard her let out a shout of surprise. Looking up to where she stood atop the wall, he noticed that her outline against the moon was not alone.  
A large winged creature fluttered about her head. The beast, bearing the head of a bull, the legs of a bird of prey, and bat like wings, it lifted itself up higher into the air as Tasaka slammed her right tonfa into the things side.   
Swooping down upon her, the demon sprayed a cloud of blue gas around her as it tried to catch her with its talons. However, Sui was there in a heartbeat.   
Leaping to the top of the wall, Sui set both of his feet as to balance himself, then sending off with his left leg, he sent his right foot flying in a windmill kick. The attack connected with the fluttering monsters head and sent it rolling down to the ground at the base of the wall.  
Grabbing Tasaka, Sui eased himself and her down the wall. Kneeling down on the grass, he checked her for injuries. Not finding any signs of blood, he only saw that she was unconscious.  
Sui picked her up and carried her over to the stream, where he cupped some water and put it to her lips. As he did so, the sound of the frantic beating of the demon's wings stopped as it regained its way into the air.   
The battle cry of the demon startled even Sui. Jumping to his feet, it was all he could do to miss the demon's charge. Feeling the air of it's taloned strike swish by his head, he rolled to the ground, and stood up facing the direction the beast has passed him by.   
In the darkness, he could not see the creature, only hear the heaving of its breath, and the heavy beating of its wings in the air. Deciding it was best to move away from where Tasaka lay, Sui bounded over till he felt the hardness of a cobblestone path beneath his feet. Hearing the demon in aerial pursuit, he ducked just in time to miss being slashed across the back by its taloned appendages.   
Anger welling inside him, he growled, "How the hell am I supposed to fight something I can't friggin' see?"  
His words were cut short by a cry from the creature. Obviously originating from his demonic opponent, a gust of hard wind drove into him, throwing him to his feet. Air escaped his lungs as the wind was pummeled from him. Rolling onto his stomach, he could hear the demon laughing. As he crawled to his feet, the demon spoke, "What are humans doing in a place like this?"  
Sui was caught off guard. The last thing he foresaw in this was the damned thing attempting to communicate with him. Stumbling over his words, he turned to face the hovering beast, "Because, this is the human world. And I belong here!"  
"Insolent wretch! We demons shall take this world, and you humans' flesh will fill our bellies!"  
Hardly possessing a high morale, Sui stood on both balls of his feet. The muscles in his arms and legs tensed as he prepared to fight off another attack. "Then come eat me!"  
Roaring, the beast charged at Sui, as it neared him, he released a howl of rage and leaped into the creature. As he brought his fist into its chest, it tore its talons into his side. Both fell to the ground. Repeatedly hammering at the demon with his fists, he withdrew them as the creature's death throws told him of his victory. However, at a terrible cost.   
The gaping wound on his ribs made him double over in pain as soon as the adrenaline of the battle had passed. Feeling his side, he knew that the strike had connected with bone. An ample flow of blood told him of the wound's severity.  
Forcing himself to stand, he stumbled over to where Tasaka lay. Collapsing next to her, the sudden rhythm jostled her enough so that she awoke from her dazed state.  
Tasaka reached over in the dark and felt the hair of Suikashi. Reaching lower, she took hold of his shoulder and shook him. There was no response. As she rolled him on his back, she felt her hand become moist. Bringing it to her nose, she had the unmistakable scent of blood fill her nostrils.  
"Oh god no!" She cried as she discovered his wound. Still wary that the demon might still be around, she decided that the chances were slim, or she would here it.  
"What do I do?" Tears welled in her eyes. She was on the brink of panic when she felt something in his coat pocket. Reaching in, she withdrew Sui' s Persona card. Returning the card, she stood up. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she called out into the dark, "Persona!"  
A fire ignited inside of her as an azure pillar erupted from the ground. She looked down to see ancient runic characters appear, and then vanish. A feeling swept over her as a disembodied voice hailed from seemingly no where.  
"My name is Rhea, mother of life, bringer of disaster. My touch can bring ease or suffering!"  
The Persona looked unto a woman. A golden gown hung loosely from her body, and a crown of crystals topped her brow. Her benevolent blue eyes looked down upon Tasaka, "Fear not, my other self, for the pain of injury can easily be overcome with my magic power. DIA!"  
As the Persona finished her words, a green spark shot from her hands and landed on Sui. Spiraling around him, Sui began to moan. As soon as the spark vanished, so too did Rhea.  
Rushing to his side, Tasaka hugged Sui, "Are you okay?"  
Sui moaned, putting a hand to the tattered fabric of his side, he sat up, " I think so. What happened?"  
Tasaka let go of him, "Well, I woke up and saw that you were hurt. Then I saw your card, then I called out Persona. The other me, named Rhea appeared and healed your wound!"  
"Then it appears that you are gathering."  
The unexpected new voice brought them both to attention. Sitting atop the wall, his legs crossed, was Kurokei.   
"Kurokei! What are you doing here."  
The man sighed, "I already told you, I am keeping track of time."  
Sui growled, "Never mind."  
Tasaka approached him, "I summoned a Persona. Does that mean me and Suikashi are different than other people?"  
Apparently pleased with the change of subject, Kurokei answered, "You are, and you are not. Anyone with the right mind about it may call forth another person within themselves, however, you and Sui met for a reason."  
"Is it because of the 'Wings of Darkness?"  
Kurokei beamed, "You are a bright one! Yes, it doth be the Antithesis that you must raise to meet. You, and Sui are not the last, either."  
"What do you mean," This time is Sui who spoke.  
"I simply want to keep track of time. However, if you keep this questioning up, you will be off of schedule. Now, you need to endeavor to quest further into this park. There, you will meet the next quarter of your fate." With these words, he vanished again.  
Sui looked angered, "I don't trust him."  
Tasaka blinked, "Sometimes, I don't understand you males, if the given path is right in front of you, you always have to make it look more difficult that it really is!"  
Looking ashamed, Sui wordlessly nodded and followed after Tasaka as she moved to travel further into the park.  
The darkened streetlamps stood as if dark sentinels upon either side of the cobblestone path leading deeper into the heart of the park. Kurokei' s erratic personality gave Sui a troubled sense of mind. Tasaka, however, seemed no worse for wear given the circumstances at hand.  
Feeling where that demon's talons had hewn apart his coat, the previously shredded flesh now was eerily soft, and gave of a slight sense of warmth. As Sui was pondering these things, he barely noticed as Tasaka stopped and began to back peddle.   
Catching her by her shoulder, he felt her body tense. Soft words came from her, "Look ahead."  
In response, Sui' s eyes darted ahead in the path. Maybe a hundred feet off, nearing a bend, several sets of red eyes danced around. At least two feet from the ground, they bobbed up and down. Most likely of some canine like creature, Sui toyed with the notion of it being dangerous to run.   
As Sui allowed his left foot to take a step backwards, he felt an object break under its weight. The slight snapping of the twig was all that was necessary to announce their presence to the demons that loomed before them.  
Cursing, Sui used his hand holding Tasaka' s shoulder to thrust her behind him. Shouting a protest, she quickly withdrew it as the first of the four demons, now in a charge, came into view.  
Not truly canines at all, the demons appeared to be some sort of mutant insect. Large and six legged; each was covered with sets of spikes each nearly a foot long. The length of their near six feet was layered in a metallic looking armor. The creature's soulless blood-red eyes appeared intent on tearing both Suikashi and Tasaka to pieces.  
"Tasaka," Sui shouted, "get away!"  
"Slim chance of that! You got the last two! Now it is my turn to kick some ass!"  
Sui stopped. Looking at her like she was crazy, she only smiled at him, and stepped forward. Raising her hands into the air, she cried out, "Persona!"  
The pillar of blue light preceded the form of Rhea. The golden haired goddess made her hands into the shape of a triangle, and then thrust them at the demons. As she did thus, a beam of cold erupted from her hands and struck into the first insect demon. Frozen solid, the other three charged by it.   
Tasaka stepped back as Rhea vanished again. Placing her tonfa as if to block an attack, she yelled to Sui, "Guess it was not as effective as I would have thought!"  
Groaning, Sui disapproved of her lightheartedness in such urgency. "Tasaka, how did you do that?"  
The beasts drew nearer.  
"I just thought of my Persona, and suddenly I knew it was able to do that. You try it!"  
Not in a mood to reject possible aid, Sui closed his eyes and thought about the jade warrior that was his other self.   
A voice in his head spoke to him.  
"I am Susano O. You who are me, doth thy need my aid?"  
Sui gasped, in his mind, he spoke, "I need to fight."  
"Then use my strength. I am empowered by the winds, however, avoid the might of earth."  
With that, Sui returned to cognizant thought. The demons were on them.  
Jumping to the side, Sui avoided a vicious slash from a horn-like protrusion from the head of the first demon to reach them. The other two came at Tasaka.   
Managing to also avoid their slashing horns, she slammed her tonfa onto the back of the second one that passed her. The weapon harmlessly reflected off of the hard surface.  
"Shit!" she cursed as she realized her weapons were useless. Leaping off the road, and on to the small guard wall of a flowerbed, she called to Sui, "Sui, you had better do something, I am all out of ideas!"  
Sui heard her warning, but he was already planning something. Thrusting his fist towards the darkened firmament, he shouted out, "Persona!"  
Around him came the monolith of light, accompanied by the image of Susano. The great samurai persona hefted its blade over its right shoulder. As Sui shouted again, Susano swung the blade in a wide arc, from its tip, blades of flashing green energy targeted, and impacted with all three of the demons.  
As each blade hit, the demon, in turn, exploded. Bits and pieces of them lay scattered about. However, it did not take long for them to slowly begin to dissipate.   
Kicking a piece of shell, Tasaka paced back over to face Sui. "Wow! Good work! Looks like you are getting more used to this fate that Kurokei was rambling about."  
Sui shrugged, "Is that a good thing?"  
"I think so."  
Walking ahead, Sui noted, "I wonder where all these demons are coming from? I have not heard of them in at least a year or two. And that was clear across the country."  
"I was wondering that too, maybe our town will get some regard like Lunarvale or that other city last year!" Tasaka danced in along on the path. "Do you think me and you will get in the news?"  
Hardly of the mind to tell her that they were both as likely to die than come out of this, he answered, "Maybe. That could be neat."  
A front of clouds now rolled across the sky. The said mass, now began to make it their business to start accumulating over the brightly glowing moon.  
Their pace, already slow, due to their combined apprehension, was only deteriorated by the now near complete lack of light. Small sounds began to emerge from the forest. A foot stamping through leaves, the snapping of wood.   
Tasaka latched onto Sui' s arm. Typically one to protest things such as that, there was enough fear in him to degrade his resolve.   
The two of them stopped as they heard the largest commotion yet. From the sound of it, an entire tree had been split asunder. A loud, bestial roar, heralded from the far off right.   
"Holy shit!" Tasaka swore, "That sounded close."  
Frozen to the spot, Sui made an effort not to cringe. Another deafening roar echoed out. Without thinking of much else, Sui grabbed Tasaka' s arm, and broke into a dead run.   
A culmination of panic and terror filled both of them as whatever had been stalking in the forest now had noticed them, and could be heard off to their right, ripping through the forest in pursuit.   
As he continued to run, the faint glimpse of a light shone off in the not to far distance. Heading straight to it, Sui broke his stride, and carried his legs even faster.   
Feeling the cobblestone run out beneath his feet, Su tried to halt to a stop, for running off the path could be dangerous. No sooner than he thought this, however, than he lost his tread, and stumbled head first into a tree.  
Falling to the earth, his head splashed into something wet, then the darkness absorbed him.  
  
Tasaka had lost her hold on Suikashi as he had slipped forward. Only capable of seeing vague outlines of what was before her, she ambled forward, lightly shouting out Sui' s name.   
Sui was no where to be found, tears rolled down her face, as the sounds of whatever was chasing them came ever closer. Seeing the light ahead, she put both hands in front of her, and ran towards it.  
Coming in contact with a group of trees hardly slowed her pace. Feeling her way through them with her hands, she felt her shirt and pants catch on objects, and tear. Small jolts of pain would race through her skin, as she knew she was cut by what could only be a cut or scrape.   
Splashing knee deep into a creek, she fell down to her knees, sobbing. Now up to her waist, she stopped and listened for the sound of her pursuer. Nothing but silence.   
Suddenly, a large mass exploded through a mass of tress down the creek. Hissing, the enormous demon splashed through the creek. Not being able to see the beast, Tasaka could only sit in the drink and tear as it came near to where she sat.  
She shut her eyes, and thought of what she could do. Sui was gone, likely dead, and now this thing would make quick work of her as well.  
Gripping her tonfa tight, she stood and screamed at the demon. The faint sound of a cackling laughter came from where the creature now waited.  
"After I have eaten you. I will find your friend. And then I will eat him too. I have eaten many humans already. I am not nearly full, however."  
The creature's comment was followed by more of the shrill, cackling laughter.   
Tasaka stepped into a fighting stance as the creature began to move forward, thinking to herself, "So Suikashi is alive!"  
Now only ten feet or so from her, she could make out an arachnid like shape. Several sets of legs moved in unison to propel the demon.   
As it reared back to strike at her, a blue light emanated from behind her, and the earth exploded beneath the creature.  
Howling in rage, the demon back upped. Tasaka, turning to run, felt her being picked up, and carried back onto the shore. Looking up, she saw a dark skinned stranger looking down at her. The faint reflection of glasses is all she could make out save for the fact that he was wearing a trench coat.  
Dashing away from her, she heard him reenter the creek. "Away with you vile spirit!" The man's voice was deep and mature. A certain tone of confidence was layered throughout it.  
Hissing, the demon spat a strange substance at him, from which he dodged easily. As he ceased motion, he flung his hands forth, "Persona!"  
Gasping, Tasaka watched as the man was layered by the trademark blue pillar of light marking him as calling a Persona. The form of a great gold dragon, its body in twists and curves, appeared from the light. Its red horned head separated its jaws, and a wave erupted from its mouth.   
The waves hit the demon, and it roared in anger.   
"Whispers hurt. Humans...flesh. All that is, will not be. There is no honey in blood. Whispers..." The demon began to ramble, tripping several times; it stalked back into the woods.  
The newcomer jogged out of the creek, and extended a gloved hand to Tasaka. His deep voice rumbles out again, "I only confused it. It will be back when it recovers. I figured some idiot children had stumbled out here and woke it up."  
"What?" was all Tasaka managed to get out before she fainted.  
Swearing an oath to himself, the strange man picked her up, and splashed across the creek.  
  
Sui awoke to the sound of his own heart. Looking around, he found that he was still lying amongst a group of trees, his head partially in a stream. Fighting to get to his feet, he finally managed to stand. Putting his palm to his forehead, he felt what could only be a gash. The blood was already dried, save for what was washed away by the stream.  
Looking to where the light was, Sui noticed that it was still there. Moving towards it now, much slower than before, he found his way back to the path. The sounds of his feet coming in touch with the cobblestones were the only sounds to be heard as he came upon the encampment.   
Lying on its side, a large green van sat. Large sections of the metal of its body had been rent from it; all the doors were either missing or left on by scraps of metal. The inside light of the destroyed vehicle had been what summoned him here.  
As he came closer, he felt his footstep into a warm puddle. Thinking it mud he simply placed his foot in the grass and scraped it off. Looking down at it, he could not help but notice that it was unmistakably red. Looking back over to where the 'mud puddle' had been, he saw a pile of pink entrails, human entrails.  
Several feet from the putrid heap, was a majority of a human body. Most of the upper torso had been eaten, apparently, and the lower half lay strewn apart over several feet of grass.  
Rushing over to the side of the van, Sui collapsed to his knees, and emptied the majority of the contents of his stomach. Still coughing, he barely noticed as a person approached him from behind.   
"Hey buddy, yer' gonna hav' ta' fin' sumun else uz van to puke in."  
Sui whirled around. Standing before him now, was the erect figure of a teenager dressed in mismatched assorted leather and nylon garments. His brightly dyed green hair stood straight up, and smeared eyeliner and lipstick added to his 'dangerous' appearance.   
Rubbing his right eye with one hand, and holding an empty bottle of sweet sake with the other, he was more than evidentially plastered. Sui wiped his mouth away on his already mutilated uniform jacket, then proceeded to remove the jacket. Carrying it over to the body, he laid the coat over the harsh remains.  
The drunk boy, dropped his empty bottle, and put a teetered over to Sui, "What er ya doin? That is a good jackut!"  
Reaching down, he picked up the gore ensoddened jacket. Placing it on himself, he further clashed with the puke and mud stained outfit he was already wearing.  
"I was," Sui began, "Making an attempt to cover up that mutilated body."  
In all of history, the sheer record for a quick sobriety was attained this night. Looking down, the boy saw the legs of his former friend. It took a moment to register, in the meantime which, the boy held up a corner of the hem of the now blood soaked coat.   
"MOTHERF**CKER!"  
The boy tore the coat from his shoulders, hurled it as far as he could and ran over near to where Sui had, and began to vomit intensively.   
Not really amused, Sui stepped over to the guy, and helped him back to his feet. "Come on now."  
Sui sat the shocked youth against a tree, and began to look around. He discovered two more bodies. The other two, similarly damaged, both bore remnants of a jacket that had a flashy insignia labeled, "DEATHDOGS" on their backs.   
Sui though, "Must be a band."  
It was becoming more and more of a fad to make high school bands nowadays. Sui kind of felt sorry for his sickened friend.   
Now holding his face, the boy seemed dazed. Walking over to him, Sui announced, "My name is Suikashi Tasheta. What is yours?"  
  
Tasaka awoke to the sound of logs crackling in a fire. A sharp snap of the wood jolted her out of her sleep. Looking around, she saw that she was in a very limited lighted area of thick woodland. Overhead, only an outline of the full moon was visible.  
Over to her side, the man who had saved her from the Spider Demon sat cross-legged.   
Looking to be in his mid to late twenties, the man had dark skin. Small, square lensed eyeglasses sat perched on the bridge of his nose. Lines of age crept up the sides of his face, and the area around the sides of his eyes looked slightly puffy, and worn. The man's hair, woven into dozens of tightly wound braids, hung over in every which direction.  
As she stirred, so to did his braids, giving away a notion of his alertness as well. Opening his hazel eyes, he stared at Tasaka.   
"So, you are alive?"  
Tasaka winced at the question. Never really weighing how truly close she came to death, it all began to catch up with her. Suikashi falling, the large spider demon, and then his dragon Persona.  
"You, have a Persona."  
The man stretched his arms, then began to rummage into one of his pockets, "Yes, I do."  
Tasaka sort of tensed in her spot, "How, do you have one?"  
Removing a cigarette from his pocket, he quickly put a light to it from the nearby fire. Staring across the flame to her, he replied, "Anyone can have a Persona. As a fact, everyone does. Is one of those little facts of life."  
"No, I mean, how do you know how to use it?"  
"In my line of work, you have to learn about such things. My Persona, Dichu Long, the Earth Dragon, comes in quite handy."  
Tasaka felt rather shy about questioning the rather reticent man, however, curiosity took the better of her, "What do you do, then?"  
Sighing, he shifted from his cross-legged position, and sprawled out against a tall tree. "I am a professional Demon Queller. I kill demons, or banish them."  
"So, did you kill that demon that attack me and Suikashi? Oh, no. Suikashi!"  
Tasaka' s exclamation demanded a bit more attention from the man. "You mean there was another one of you? Dammit, he is probably dead. I found a whole group of your friends earlier, that thing chewed them up pretty bad."  
Tasaka stood, "What do you mean, me and Suikashi were alone in the park? What others? We have to find him!?  
The man pushed himself to one knee, and heaved himself up, "Hold on there. I have cast a ward on this campsite we are in. No demon can see or hear us as long as we stay put. I figure in the morning, it will be safe to head out."  
Tasaka made to head out, "How long have we been here?"  
The man reached into the darkness behind him, retrieving a wooden staff several feet long, "Only about 30 minutes. There is a chance it has not found him. The spell of confusion I cast on it has already had time to wear off, however, if we get to him first..."  
"Last I saw him, he had fallen, just a little ways from where you found me. We were headed towards a light."  
Dropping the cigarette into the fire, he added, "That was probably the wrecked camp of those drunken teenagers. We should head there, if he is alive, he will likely have found his way there!"  
"Alright!"  
Before the two stepped out into the void of darkness, the man said, "By the way, you can call me Gui Shih. From the way of your speaking, it implied that you can use a Persona?"  
She got out a yes, as they vanished out of the fire's light.  
  
Suikashi had managed to toughen up enough to gather up the bodies of the slain teenagers. Piling them behind the van, out of view, he returned to see the other teen standing up. Wiping mascara away from his eyes with a coat sleeve, he said aloud, "You gonna catch a f**king cold without a jacket. Over in the van, I got a jacket you can use."  
Not accustomed to his companion speaking, Sui wordlessly followed.   
"My name, is Ryuichi Sanbanmastsu, but you can call me Dash."  
"Dash?" Sui inquired.  
"Yeah," Dash began to rummage through a pile of clothes that had been in a ruptured trunk, "That is my Deathdogs name."  
Sui lifted an eyebrow, "Is that, your band's name?"  
"It was." He removed a tattered leather jacket, layered in patches and the like, he handed it to Sui, "We pretty much sucked ass, I guess I don't have to worry about it too much now."  
Sui placed on the heavy coat. Not truly his style, he looked over himself. "You know, I don't think this goes too well with the rest of my outfit."  
"You know, you are right there, hold on."  
After several minutes had passed, Dash had picked out two outfits. One, Dash's comprised of a black mesh shirt, red leather pants with a black trim, and a black and red leather jacket. The other outfit, intended for Sui, was a pair of straight dark blue slacks, a black T-Shirt with the words, "Ladykiller" on it, and, of course, the leather coat.  
Both of them in their new regalia, Sui noted, "I think we should get out of here. The thing that killed your pals might come back."  
"First of all, they were not my pals, if anything, they were a bunch of manipulating assholes who used me to buy their beer. But, when beer is involved, everyone seems like a friend. I am kinda glad I was off taking a shit, or that thing would a got me too!"  
Sui cracked his knuckles, "I lost my companion not far from here, and we had better get looking for her."  
"You go, bringing a girl to the park alone at night, bet you were gonna cause some hell, eh?"  
"Actually," Sui said with a smile, "I was planning just that."  
Not really getting the full intent of Sui' s joke, the reality of it caught up with him as the small group of demon' s began to gather around them.  
No sooner had they left the light, than a group of demons had been aroused to their presence. Dressed like tiny little clowns, their heads spun around, a mace like weapon acting as a tassel for their clown hats.   
Fits of laughter passed between the demons as they moved in on Sui and Dash.   
Looking like he had eaten one too many tequila worms, Dash yelled out, "What the hell are those things?"  
Sui stepped into a martial stance, "Those are demons, and you had better learn to defend yourself, or I'm willing to bet they will kill you."  
"Demons? Here?"  
Expecting a similar reaction to his own personal revelation as to the true existence of demons, Sui nearly choked at Dash's reply.  
"Kickass!"  
Sui stumbled, "What? You're as bad as Tasaka!"  
Reaching into his coat, Dash withdrew a handgun, a very large handgun. Obviously of high caliber, the silver firearm gleamed in the moonlight.  
Choking again, Sui laughed out, "Holy shit!"  
Laughing, Dash took aim on the blankly staring clown demons. One particular of which, simply stood laughing as Dash's first shot removed it's laughing happy head, from its laughing happy shoulders.   
Falling to the ground in a heap, the demon's body faded out of existence. Apparently angered by Dash's action, the other five demons began to waddle towards the two.  
"Man, you got it the easy way! Try this on for size!"  
Rushing into the crowd of creatures, it was nothing for Sui to evade their ill aimed attacks. Dropping one with a kick to the face, he pushed off with the same foot, and flipped over another one. Catching the mace weapon on its hat, he wrapped it around the back of his fist, and pulled the stupefied demon into his waiting knee.   
Standing back, Dash took aim with his pistol as one of the devils moved up behind Sui. With one shot, he took half of the demon's head off.  
Taking three more shots, he sent another two to the ground. His last shot, range out a miss as the small creature ducked. Moving in for his own attack, Sui sweep kicked the poor demon, and was up in time to smash its throat.  
Finishing off the last of the group, Sui and Dash watched as the lot of them disappeared into nothing.  
"You might prove to be handy in this."  
Dash returned the gun to his shoulder holster, "When you said raise hell, you did not mean what I was thinking at all."  
"Nope."  
"What are you doing here?"  
Sui turned to Dash, and more or less summed up the events of the last two hours of his life to Dash.  
Dash blinked, "Shit man."  
  
  
10 Hours  
Chapter Three  
  
  
Gui Shih allowed his rod to drop against the pavement as Tasaka finished up the last of her story. Having been wordlessly pulling it in, he finally spoke after his long period of silence. "Looks like I was wrong about you."  
Tasaka rolled her eyes, "And you doubted me?"  
Ignoring the gesture, Gui suddenly stopped as the sounds of gunshots rang out. Several moments passed, and there were quite a few more heard.  
Tasaka grabbed hold of Gui' s sleeve, "You think it might be the police?"  
"Here? No, I don't think so. I believe that your friend may have to do with that."  
"Suikashi is unarmed, he is dangerous as is, without a gun!"  
Gui crouched low, listening.  
Tasaka continued on, as she had been doing in his silence, "You know, I really think we should move on now. If nothing else, it is the police, and we can get a lift out of here."  
Gui remained still and silent, lost in thought? Or was it otherwise?  
Feeling rather pent up, Tasaka took several steps forward...and screamed.   
Having walked face first into a large congealment of sticky webbing, she once more heard the scratchy laughter that could only belong to the Spider Demon.  
"So...the spider hath caught himself a tasty fly. My belly will be full of human flesh before the night is over indeed!"  
Sounding rather pleased with itself, the demon emerged from a nearby copse of trees, where it had been eagerly awaiting Tasaka' s loud mouth to give away her location so as to give it time to lay a trap and wait.   
Gui Shih, however, was not so dense.  
Tasaka screamed as she felt the web rumble as the creature underwent the task to ravel up the webbing. Twisting and shaking, she was only succeeding in tangling herself further.  
Two quick strokes of silver light ceased her struggling, however. Her final scream was cut off as her bottom came in contact with the hard earth below her. Looking up, she saw Gui Shih, in his hands, a long straight bladed katana sword.  
Returning the blade to its cane sheath, Gui Shih, picked up Tasaka over his shoulder. "I knew your rambling would draw it out."  
Tasaka shook on his shoulder, "You mean to tell me that you used me as bait! You asshole!"  
Gui Shih only smiled.  
  
Sui and Dash responded quickly to the feminine screams coming from the woods nearby.   
"Dash! That has to be Tasaka! There is no mistaking that girls' scream!"  
"Ha! Are all you demon hunters so confident?"  
Sui looked to Dash, "I am not a demon hunter, and I'm an 11th grader!"  
  
Gui Shih managed to jump over a clot of webbing hurled at them by the dripping maw of the arachnid threat. Not wishing to set down Tasaka' s prone form long enough to attack, his only hope was escape.  
Tasaka howled, "Why the hell didn't you tell me to shut up? I would rather it had NOT known where in the f**k we were!"  
Between jumps, Gui Shih managed to get out, "It is better," jump, " to know," jump, "where your enemy is!"  
"Perfect tactics, Mister Dark and Mysterious! I thought I had my hands full with Kurokei filling that role! And then there is that lead footed Suikashi! Why do I always get stuck with the rejects?"  
Gui Shih stopped, "Would you shut the hell up!? I am started to regret risking my ass to save yours!"  
Opening her mouth to protest, Gui Shih's abrupt jump and landing caused her to bite her tongue. A heavy amount of tears sprung up as she was forced to endure the pain. In the meanwhile, Gui Shih was beginning to thank the spider for at least something.  
  
The crashing in the woods from where the Spider was chasing Gui Shih and Tasaka made it an easy goal for both Sui and Dash. Both nearly blind in the dark, moving was still slow going, however.  
Sui stopped, only a hundred feet ahead of him or so; Gui Shih danced back and forth, carrying the burden of a whining Tasaka. "There she is, and she is with some guy!"  
Dash drew his pistol, "And let's not forget that party crashing insect either!"  
The monstrous demon spider reared for the coup de grace. Having fallen over a downed log, Gui Shih scrambled to draw his sword, but the inert form of Tasaka held it pinned.  
"I guess it ends here. Sorry girlie, but our luck has run out."  
The sound of Dash's handgun made him think otherwise.   
A spray of the demon's blood splashed over Gui Shih and Tasaka as the creature was dealt a head wound. Turning to face its new attackers, it did not expect what was to come.  
Charging at the monster, Sui leaped into the air, and let off with a flying axe kick, stomping straight into the demon's eyes. Landing, and then flipping over a sweeping leg attack, Sui landed safely out of its leg range.   
As Dash made ready to reload his magnum, the spider released a flow of webbing that wrapped about his legs. Falling, Dash dropped his gun out of reach. This setback, however, was enough to allow Gui Shih to stand.   
Seeming to gather similar thoughts, both Gui Shih and Sui called out, "Persona!"  
As both men were covered in the radiant blue auras their Persona's seemed to resonate. Moving in unison, both attack hit the demon as one fatal combination attack.   
The earth underneath the spider rose as if a pillar. Being held off of the ground, an enormous bolt of lightening rocketed out of a clear section of the sky, striking the creature through the middle. The encropment of earth exploded under the power of the bolt, and a shower of static sparks and crumbled earth all crashed into a deep hole.  
It took several moments for the dust to clear. Sui walked up to the base of the crater. "You there, do you think we killed it."  
Gui responded, showing apparent dislike with Suikashi' s tone, "I think so, not much could withstand the onslaught of two Personas."  
Sui crossed around the crater. Tasaka was busy untangling the mess of webbing that held her in place. "You think you could help me with this? It is the least you could do after leaving me to die!"  
"But..." Sui began in protest, trying to avoid the tongue-lashing that was inevitable.  
Gui walked over to Dash, who was busy reloading his firearm after having already gotten free from the webbing.  
"So, you are the one with the gun."  
Dash returned the weapon to its sheath, "Yeah, I had to gain some revenge back there."  
"Hmm. You must be the fourth one of us then."  
Dash looked at Gui Shih, "My name is Dash, I don't have a clue what you are talking about, but the shit I seen tonight, would make me believe in Santa Claus."  
Gui frowned, "It is just as I foresaw. Something is gathering us together. Now that we are all here, I wonder what is to come?  
Dash looked over to the bickering couple of Sui and Tasaka, poor Sui had become as entangled as Tasaka had. Now, the two were fighting to pry themselves apart. Turning his attentions once more to Gui Shih, he said, "I, for one, would like to know what in the f**k is going on. However, that is just my opinion."  
Taking out a cigarette, Gui lit it as he moved to speak to Dash again, "Not typical of being one to talk much, I think it is best that I tell all of you in on what I believe is going on."  
"About god dam time!"  
Pacing over to the entwined Sui and Tasaka, Gui drew his sword from its cane scabbard. With two quick slashes, both were released from their state of bondage.  
Whining, Tasaka began to pull off the final remnants of the sticky webbing. Sui, simply left the small amount of the substance on his borrowed jacket.  
As more clouds rolled in, almost all the light was banished away, Gui' s cigarette producing the only light, the group watched the red coal tip, and listened as Gui Shih spoke, "I am not fully aware of all the events that have happened this night, however, as Tasaka tells me, demons have appeared all over the city." Taking a second to exhale a cloud of tobacco smoke, he started again, "As of now, I believe the most prudent path would be for us to find someplace with some light. "  
Dash toned in, "My van is trashed, but the dome light still works."  
"No good," Sui commented, that whole area is infested with demons."  
"Then what?" Tasaka added, "We could return to your camp, Gui."  
"No," he breathed in deeply, "we cannot. I rescinded the wards, I cannot make another one for at least a day."  
"You know," Sui started, "there is an old cabin at the north end of the park. It is pretty close to the power plant's back parking lot."  
"Oh, the cabin on the Sebec property?" Tasaka seemed familiar with it.  
"Yeah," Dash exclaimed, "Me and Deathdogs used to go there to get wasted. Nice old' shack, has a fireplace an' shit."  
Gui Shih dropped his cigarette to the ground, stamping it out with his shoe, he said, "Alright then. Let's go there."  
  
Travel was relatively slow for the group. On two separate occasions, they had eluded small packs of various demons. At first, Sui noticed, the demons were mainly solo. Now, they traversed in greater numbers.   
Gui was the first to speak as the small cabin came into view, behind it, the darkened power plant stood out against the dark night sky. "Hell of a place to put a quaint little shack like that."  
Sui squinted his eyes, he was still unable to make the cabin out in the dark, "I suppose, the cabin was built after the plant as far as I remember."  
Gui yawned, "You said there was a fireplace, right?"  
Dash was first to answer, "Yeah, I hurled into it last New Years. Man, that was the same night I got into a fistfight with Bantaro Kenshida! Man, I whooped his sorry ass..."  
Tasaka pushed by the boasting punk rocker, "Regardless, there is a fireplace. Why were you asking Gui?"  
"Well," the shaman darkened, "I'm out of matches."  
"What?" was the remainder of the group's reply?  
"Jesus man! Now what are we gonna do? I had to pick the perfect month to quit smoking too!" Dash seemed aggravated.  
Gui stopped walking as the group reached the fore steps of the cabin's porch, "I would offer you a smoke, if I had a light..."  
Dash ran up to Gui, "Smartass! Your god dam lucky I don't pound on your stupid ass!"  
Tasaka jumped, "F**k! Would you two retards quit acting like a couple of god dam babies? Shit!"  
Sui merely stood back and blinked as Dash tore into Tasaka, "Who died and made you Mao Zedong? As I recall, I did not see you rushing in to help us kill that spider thing!"  
Tasaka yelled back, "F**k you! Sui should have left your drunken ass passed out, and that spider thing likely would have eaten you!"  
Gui toned in, "Heya..."  
The two embattled teens turned to him, "SHUT UP!"  
Growing tired of all the ego's colliding; Sui pushed passed all three of them, and opened the door of the cabin.  
As soon as Sui entered the cabin, a flash of red light immediately preceded his abrupt projection from the doorway. Flying to a rest in a mass of brush, his cry of pain brought all the others to attention.  
Gui had his sword drawn in seconds. Backing up, he made ready to slash at whatever came from the doorway.   
Tasaka chambered her tonfa under her arms, "What the hell happened?"  
Dash raised his gun to level with the door, slowly backpedaling away.  
As all three prepared to engage the source of the red light, the cabin's door suddenly slammed shut.  
Gui smiled a smile of disdain, "Heh. I honestly did not see that coming."  
"What!?" Tasaka was not pleased, "God! Never mind! I'm gonna go find Sui!"  
Dash lowered his magnum, turning to Gui, he intoned, "Heh. I might not find much in common with you, but if you are thinking what I am, we might have more in touch with one another than we thought!"  
Gui put an unlit cigarette in his mouth, "Hmpf, don't scare me like that."  
Tasaka jogged over to the bushes where Sui had landed. Seeing one his feet protruding from one such bush, she took hold of it and pulled a dazed Sui from them.  
Lying on his back, Sui had several soot marks on his face. His already wildly dilapidated hair was now further along the lines of near looking unto that of Dash's.  
Kneeling next to him, Tasaka shook him about his shoulders, "Sui! Sui!"  
Sui' s eyes began to rumble, and then they opened.  
"What happened?"  
Hearing his own words preceded him speaking them, he made an attempt to sit up. "I..."  
Tasaka pleaded, "Yes?"  
"Don't have the first clue."  
Tasaka let of his shoulders; Sui fell back down with a thud.  
Standing, Tasaka walked back over to where Dash and Gui stood watching. "He's alright."  
A few moments later, Sui came crawling from the bushes. Pulling himself up on a tree, he regained his footing.  
Running a gloved hand through his course hair, he looked darkly at the others, "You know, was helping me so hard."  
"Actually," Dash set in, "Tasaka said you were fine!"  
Slightly chuckling, Dash and Tasaka took a step back as the singed face of Sui stared daggers at them.  
Gui, still holding his drawn weapon, spoke, "Anyhow, there is still the matter of the cabin here. It is apparent that something is guarding the cabin from intruders. The question is, do we really need to battle it?"  
Sui, evidently not as irritated anymore, replied, "With the three of our Personas, we can likely win."  
"Yeah," Tasaka let out with an heir of arrogance, "and Dash here, still has not been able to call a Persona!"  
Grumbling, Dash sat down on the porch, and began to check the level on his ammunition.  
Gui dropped his sword to his side, motioning with his free hand, he pointed to the door, "There is something in there, and it does not want us to go in there. There has to be reasoning behind such actions. I have seen demons act like this before, it has to be guarding something in the cabin."  
Dash stood up, his heavy pistol in hand, "Then I say, we take it on!"  
Sui moaned.  
Tasaka readied her tonfa.  
Gui shrugged, and lifted his sword.  
Once again acting as point man, Sui ran up to the door. Shouting, he laid into the portal with a powerful sidekick. Splintering, the door, fell into the darkness of the cabin's interior.  
As the door landed, Sui jumped back from the door, this time; he stood ready to embrace in combat with the enemy inside.  
As expected, the eerie red luminescence appeared on time.   
First gathering as small crimson drops, it coalesced into a massive from in the doorway.   
Roaring, Dash sent a handful of bullets exploding into the vermilion creature.  
As the bullets harmlessly passed through the incorporeal mass, long tendrils snaked out of the base of the demon creature.  
Flailing out at the group, Sui found it an easy dodge. Tasaka simply jumped hers, and Gui slashed his down with his katana sword. Dash however, was too slow.  
Ensnaring him about his legs, he was quickly thrown to the ground.   
Cursing, he wrestled his arms around the vine-like appendage that held his legs. Moving to his aid, Gui was struck from the rear by another of the spectral tentacles.   
Burying the tip of his blade in the dirt as he fell, he managed to shoulder role out of the assault, however, as another vine sought to lash at him again, it was all he could do to avoid it.  
Taking a grazing strike to his side, he fell against a tree, panting.  
Not finding the task of avoiding the tentacles too incredibly hard, Sui pondered as to the full capability of the creature.   
Fighting through the first crowd of lashing tentacles, Tasaka screamed as she thrust the back handle of her right tonfa into the upper portion of the glowing red demon.  
Alas, the weapon harmlessly glided through the creature. Bewildered, Tasaka stood gaping as the creature's all too solid tentacle slashed her across her middle, sending her flying across past where Dash lay ensnared.  
Seeing this, Sui' s frustration turned to anger. Leaping one tentacle, he ducked and rolled under another. Getting to his knees, he lunged at the monster. Not wishing to end up like Tasaka and Gui, he struck at it, failed to make contact, and quickly dodged away.  
The tentacle holding Dash lifted him into the air. With a quick snap, it hurled the rock star into the bushes back even farther than where Tasaka was busy picking herself up.  
Gui let the unlit cigarette fall from his mouth, "Shit! This thing is gonna kill all of us unless we can figure out how to kill it!"  
Sui, still keeping his distance, cried in response, "It can hit us, but we cannot hit it! What the hell!"  
Crawling from the brush, Dash looked around for his discarded weapon. Growling, he picked the mud-laden weapon up from the ground. The barrel was clogged with mud and grass.  
Dash visible paled.  
Looking to the monster with complete hatred, he stared at it," You...will...DIE!"  
Dropping the soiled pistol, he clenched his fists and cried out to the writhing mass, "DIE!!!!!"  
As his words of hatred tore from his mouth, a blue glow enveloped him. The familiar cylinder of blue light enveloped him. Above him, a creature appeared.  
Dressed in a red cloak, the creature's head had adorned by two enormous horns. Sulfurous gas seethed from its fanged mouth. Its protruding snout twitched as its gnarled canine nose sniffed at the air.  
A deep, terrifying voice heralded, "I am Abadon, God of Destruction. You mortals who have beckoned me seek to walk along my jagged path. Let it be so!"  
With a heart stopping roar, the bestial Persona's eyes flared, and it spread it's crimson cloak. A man-sized ball of flame erupted from the folds of its drawn apart cloak. Blazing out against the monster, the intense heat caused Sui to duck to the ground.  
The demon, screamed in pain as the incendiary attack of Abadon scorched the entire cabin. Burning away not only the demon, but also the entire front face of the cabin itself.  
As the Persona vanished, Dash acquired a look on his face that could only be considered satisfaction, "Heh," he muttered, "some dumb motherf**ckers always trying to ice-skate uphill." Then, he promptly collapsed.  
  
Tasaka sat near the collapsed form of Dash. Absent-mindedly cleaning the mud from the barrel of his pistol with a stick, she paid little heed as Sui walked in the open hole in the wall, where the door had been.  
With an armload of wood, Sui moved across to where Gui sat by the blazing flames inside of the fireplace.   
His sword cane resting on the hearth, Gui snapped to attention as the mass of logs were thrown in, sending sparks aflutter.  
After the deed was done, Sui dropped down beside Tasaka. "Good thing Dash's new Persona set the whole damn cabin on fire. Good thing it started raining, or it might have completely burned down!"  
Tasaka motioned to the large hole that had once been the door, "Yeah, he sure did cut loose!"  
Droplets of rain drummed off of the roof of the cabin, running down the shingled roof, they poured out over the gaping hole and into the floor of the cabin. Catching a bit of the liquid in her hands, Tasaka brought it to the unconscious mouth of Dash.  
His mild, regular breathing cut off as she funneled her hands and poured the fluid into his mouth. Dash's body quivered, and his head shot up, a hacking cough starting to replace his breath.  
Choking up most of the water, Dash lifted his head up, and rolled onto his side. At this, Tasaka bolted back out of the way, Sui rushed over and began to pat him on the back, and Gui merely looked away from the fire long enough to acknowledge what was happening.  
Spitting up the rainwater onto the dirt-laden floor, Dash managed to lift himself up and speak, "Son of a bitch! What the hell was that shit?"  
Obviously expecting comments along the lines of gratitude for her diligence, Tasaka was somewhat less than overjoyed by his recovery.   
Sitting up, Dash began to spit on the floor, "What the hell was that? Tasted like charcoal!"  
Tasaka pushed him back down, his head made a thud as it hit; "Now whose fault would that be, torching the god dam place like that!"  
Hoping to alter another one of Tasaka' s rages, Sui butted in, "Yeah, you called out a Persona. You more or less fried that thing."  
Dash's anger soon to be directed at Tasaka quickly subsided, "Really?"  
Still red in the face, Tasaka growled, "Yeah, you called out a Persona, and then passed out. That was around 30 minutes ago."  
Gui removed a gold stopwatch from his inside shirt pocket, "Actually, it was about 35 minutes ago."  
All three of the others looked at him simultaneously.  
Sui, helping Dash sit up again, addressed Gui, "I suppose now you want to tell us exactly why we needed to rest here?"  
Gui yawned, his perfect white teeth seeming to take on the likeness of fangs in the firelight, "Basically."  
Tasaka got up to her feet, and passed by the others, making sure to kick Dash as she walked by. Sitting at Gui' s feet, she said, "So, what is the deal with what is happening?"  
Dash blinked, still regretting the horrid taste in his mouth, he rubbed a hand across his lips where a bit of saliva hung, "Yeah, what is up with all the shit that's been going down?"  
Gui looked to Sui.  
In response, Sui simply nodded.  
The wizened man cracked his knuckles, lighting a cigarette with the blaze in the hearth, he began, "and the past nights of sleep for the week gone by have not been pleasant ones for me. Since I was young, I have been very atoned with the realm of spirits. "  
"As I slept, the image of a golden butterfly would flutter into my mind, and in its wake only feelings of sadness and disharmony. Each night, these images became more hideous and vivid. The vision of the night sky was the final image that I saw. I saw a constellation that I had never seen before, yet I knew its name; The Wings of Darkness."  
Sui and Tasaka both snapped, looking to each other, their mouths hung ajar.  
Before they could speak, Gui silenced them with a knowing wave of his hand. Coughing to clear his throat, his mellow voice came out again, "This constellation was unto the shape of a black butterfly. As it spoke words of hatred and scorn to me, it shed four tears. Where each tear dropped, the golden butterfly flew and touched."  
The red of the cherry on his cigarette flared.  
"This golden butterfly flew up to me as one of the Wings of Darkness's tears fell upon me. The shining insect gave me a sense of peace this time. Yet, I looked up, and the vile constellation dominated the entire sky. A pair of wicked eyes stared down at me."  
Now sweating, Gui wiped his hand across his brow. "I then knew what I must do. Something is coming to this world, and I know that we four are what has been chosen by whatever force, the golden butterfly if you will, to protect all there is."  
"For some time, I have had these visions. Ever since I was a boy, the spirits have been strong within me. My own parents feared me, for my prophetic dreams often-foretold things of undesirable consequence. I foresaw my home burning down in a thunderstorm. My parents, both deeply religious Roman Catholics, accused me of arson." Gui seemed deeply hurt by this fact.  
"I guess that is when I lost my faith in God, and acquired a life in tone with the spirit world. I would spend most of the rest of my life homeless and on the streets. I did find out that I am quite adept at the simple life."  
Tasaka breathed in deeply, "I can relate to you there. I am only 17, but I have lived alone for two years. Back when I was five my parents got a divorce. For the longest time, it was just my mother and I. Then, when I was 14, she got remarried."  
Tears began to form on the edges of her eyes as she forced her words out, "This guy was a real asshole, you know, a jerk and a half. After living with him for about a year, he came into my room one night, and made an attempt to molest me. I fought him off, and he ran from me cursing."  
Sui put his hand on her shoulder, "Tasaka, you don't have to say this if you don't want to."  
Tasaka looked at him, "I don't know why, but I think you all have to know this. To know me."  
Sui nodded, and he sat back to where Dash was sprawled out.  
Tasaka started again, this time, she held the deep interest of all-present, "That ass went to my mother the next day, and he told her I had tried to come on to him the night before. My mom was furious," Tasaka wiped away her watery cheeks with her short shirt sleeves, "I got into a fight with her, and she chose his word over mine. I ran away the next day."  
"I enrolled in an all women's school, and I took a job as a waitress. I managed to get an apartment from my real dad's best friend. And I have been there for two years. I have been so alone."   
Sui breathed in. Next to him, Tasaka sat wringing her hands in a nervous fashion. Dash moaned and fell back, "Man, I should have just died. I suppose you are all expecting me to start yapping about how I wound up drunk in the park while a demon ate my friends?"  
"Only if you want to." Sui sounded serious.  
Dash stretched, "I am not sure why, but I have the oddest compulsion to tell you all about me. Maybe it is another part of all the weird shit going down lately. First demons start walking the streets, next, Ryuichi Sanbanmatsu starts getting all sentimental!"  
"Hell, my problems started young too. My dad was a deadbeat, and my mom was addicted to heroine. My dad had this heavy burden, because his ancestors had been mainly composed of tanners. Being an orphan, the family he was adopted into was of noble descent. Back in those days prejudice like that really made a difference. Those people never let my father forget that he was lowborn."  
"I suppose this attitude passed on to me. My father was always way too critical of me, while he let himself wallow away his life in sake. It was pretty damn disgusting. He spent a fortune getting me into the highest schools, and he literally would beat me into my good grades. When I told him that I wanted to be in a band, he almost had a coronary."  
Tasaka kinda laughed, "I guess we are all pretty messed up!"  
Dash laughed with her, "I suppose, heh, heh. Anyhoo, my parents both died in a car accident my last year of high school. They were both so far into debt, that all of their assets became property of the government. I was literally cast out onto the street. From there, I lived off of painting water towers and park restrooms and public bathhouses and the like. I spent most of the money I made getting tanked and passing out. More or less, my life up until a couple of hours ago was get drunk and play pathetic music."  
Gui spoke for the first time in a long while, "well, at least you have a reason to quit drinking."  
Dash spat at him venomously, "Shut the hell up you bum! At least I worked for my pity! You just laid around and likely stole food from trashcans!"  
Gui slowly raised his right arm, soon after; his middle finger raised itself aloft.  
Dash snorted and began again, "Anyhow, that is how I came to be such a worthless teenage drunk."  
Tasaka looked at him and smiled, "Hey, you have all of us now. Things should be alright."  
Dash smiled and turned to Sui, "Well, what about you."  
Despite the pattern that had been going on, Sui did not expect what they were asking, "What, you want to know about me?"  
Dash laughed, "Hey man, it is only fair!"  
"Well," Sui started, "There is really nothing to know. I go to high school, I return home. Then, I go to cram school till 9 o'clock. I go home again, I eat dinner, and go to sleep. The next day it is the same, it has been the same for the last four years."  
Tasaka breathed in before she spoke, "I wish my life were that simple."  
Sui' s temper suddenly flared, "What do you know!? Maybe I would like to have a life more complicated! Listening to you all, it makes me wish that I had more meaning, more character!"  
"Suikashi.."  
"No! There is nothing that separates me from every other person in my school! Dammit!"  
Sui choked. Tasaka put her arm on him.  
"Sui, I'm sorry."  
"No. It's alright."  
Dash spoke softly to him, "It's okay man, from what I have seen of you, and you are way beyond normal. You are just so naturally strong. Since I met you, I have felt like I can take on the whole world!"  
Gui nodded, "he's right, you do seem to pull us all together."  
"Yeah! If not for you, all of us would still be where we were when you rescued us! You saved Dash's and my life! You are more than what you let on, you are out leader!"  
Gui broke into their conversation, "Sui, fate weighs heavily upon you. I believe that you are the catalyst that will leave its mark on the spirit world. Clouds of opportunity swirl around you."  
Sui laughed, "I guess you really all do think a lot of me?"  
Dash stood up and laughed, "You're damn right!"  
Gui cracked his neck, and spoke out again, "Well, I guess all we have to do now, if find out where we have to go next."  
Gui' s eyes stared skyward as a new voice announced itself. "Finally, you are all together. It is a good thing that you met so soon, for your time doth be in limit. Your present sentiments have truly driven me to tears. Now, I implore thee, continue on with your quest, and stop spewing niceties here! "  
Turning and standing, Sui shouted to Kurokei in a harsh voice, "You again! What confusion to you wish to spread this time."  
Gui Shih spoke over the raging Sui, "Silence! Let him speak, he may be our key to surviving this!"  
Kurokei' s odd-looking eyes narrowed as a smile crept across his lips, "Excellent, I was hoping Philemon would pick a mortal with sense to be one of his newest chosen."  
Sui stood staring. Tasaka, moved to stand close by him, and Dash stood off and to his right, his arms crossed.  
Kurokei levitated from where he floated some 15 feet from the earth. Meeting with the ground, he straightened the tails on his long coat and spoke, "I suppose the most polite thing to do before I cut you off so abruptly again would be to mention to you that the endeavor you are undergoing has a time limit. In less than 10 hours now, actually, closer to 9, to meet at the Place of Convergence and prevent the Antithesis from infringing on this plane."  
Sui cracked, "And if we fail?"  
Gui slightly shook.  
"And if you fail..." A dark smiled played across Kurokei' s lips, "You shall suffer indeed."  
With this, Kurokei faded into the background.   
Sui cursed, "Shit!"  
Dash blinked, "Is that what he always does?"  
Tasaka nodded.  
Gui Shih, agitated, moved to where Kurokei had stood, on the floor, traced in soot, was the word,  
  
S E B E C  
"Sebec?" Dash noted.  
Gui Froze.  
Sui moved up to inspect the sign, "Sebec, that building over there?"  
Tasaka answered, "Yeah, the company that owns the power plant!"  
Dash spoke in, "You think that maybe they'd have anything to do with the city-wide black out?"  
Gui interrupted him, "I don't think there is any 'maybe' about it."  
Sui questioned, "What?"  
Gui let his cigarette burn out in his mouth, being unnerved as he was, he let a several centimeter long ash fall of the end, "Several years ago, in Lunarvale, the Sebec company was responsible for some pretty low down and dirty shit. Through occult circles, I was able to find out that they actually penetrated the fabric of reality, and purged into a separate dimension altogether. They were, however, stopped from some nefarious scheme by a group of Persona users, like us."  
Dash laughed, "Oh, boy! Sounds like we're in for it!"  
Tasaka picked up her tonfa, spun them and then chambering them under her arms, she loudly chimed, "Well, we got nine hours to get to the 'convergence place' or whatever, so I guess we head to the power plant next!"  
Gui laughed, "I wish I had half of your spirit."  
Dash stood up, "So, this Kurokei guy gives us a limit to do something as hard as this? I had better do it with time to spare, just to spite his uptight ass!"  
Sui looked upon his friends and smiled.  
  
  
  
9 Hours  
Chapter Four  
  
  
The tall chain fence that surrounded the perimeter of the compound loomed over Sui and his companions. Once already, they had trekked the entire stretch of this side of the wall, only to fail in finding an appropriate entryway.  
Gui spoke up, "This is proving to get us no where. Perhaps we should move through the woods and explore the other sides?"  
Tasaka growled, "I just don't get it! I distinctly remember there being a gate in this fence right near the cabin! What the hell is up with this crap?"  
Sui put his hand on her shoulder, " I believe you, but with all the odd things happening tonight, this seems to pail as to some of the strangeness we've seen."  
"I wish that guy with the weird white eyes would be a little more open with his damn clues! What good is it to confuse us if we have to save the world!?" Dash seemed angered.  
Gui stepped up to the others once more, "Well, the only thing left is to explore further around the perimeter fence. Perhaps it is best if we split up. We will go in two teams, and then we will report back here as soon as we find an entrance."  
Sui stepped in, "That sounds good to me, however, what if we don't find an entrance?"  
"Then we keep walking until we run into each other. Following the walls should take us straight into each other."  
"Good," Tasaka brought in, "This time, I am going with Sui. You two need to get to know each other better if we are all into this thing together!"  
Sui laughed, "Yeah, I think that is a good idea."  
"Whatever!" Dash cursed.  
Gui simply rolled his eyes and looked away.  
As Tasaka and Sui walked off into the woods, Gui looked to Dash, "You're not planning to kill him as soon as they leave are you?"  
Dash gave him a very cynical look, "Of course not, you're one hell of a nice guy!"  
Gui took a step towards the forest, "That is not too comforting a thought. Forgive me for thinking ill of you."  
Dash blinked, "It's alright, after all this Is over, and the world is saved, I can kill you then."  
"That's a relief."  
  
Sui kicked aside a fallen limb from a tall ash tree. Stepping up beside him, Tasaka near stumbled over a protruding root, "Shit!"  
Sui lashed out and grabbed her as she near fell. Lifting her up off of the ground, he set her back down on her own two feet.  
"You should be more careful. Shouldn't the 'all girls Kobudo Champ' have a bit better balance?"  
Tasaka gave him a positively foul look, however, her piercing expression radically lightened, "Well, maybe I have just gotten used to the idea of you being there to always catch me when I fall?"  
Sui' s mouth moved to reply, but no sound escaped it.  
Tasaka smiled at him, then skipped ahead, the tall fence off to her right.  
  
Dash cursed again as he slipped and twisted his ankle over yet another branch, "Shit! Man, these god dam things are trying to kill me!"  
Gui helped him up, "Somehow, I doubt that."  
Now standing, Dash looked up at the taller Gui Shih, "Smartass."  
"I try."  
With the fence to their left, the two pushed through the heavy woods that rimmed the outside border of the park.  
  
Sui moved noticeably slower than his female companion. Lifting his feet one after the other, his pace seemed to droll on. Occasionally, an off comment by the frustrated Tasaka would tear him from his lull, however; soon, he was near to walking dead.  
Sui' s mind began to work with loose thoughts. "So, Suikashi, look where you are now. A lot has happened in three hours. Kinda humorous, don't you think. One minute, you are in bed, the next, a little bell leads you to a fate like this."  
"What?"  
"You know what I mean, nothing could have prepared you for this. Admit it! You are afraid!"  
"I am not!"  
"Then why did you lock up back there? Why didn't you tell her that it pains you so much to let her fight? That she should just go home and let you do all this."  
"I did not say anything, because I hardly know her, and besides, she would never agree to that! She would likely kill me!"  
"You saw how she looked at you. That smile hit you harder than the talons of that winged demon."  
"Why am I listening to you? You are in my head!"  
"Am I?"  
"Yes!"  
"Did you ever think, that perhaps you are in my head?"  
"WHAT!"  
Sui snapped alive. Tasaka was tapping him in the ribs with her Tonfa, "Earth to Suikashi! Are you alive?"  
Focusing on her bright eyes, he stumbled with the words, "Oh! Yeah, I am okay. Just a little tired."  
"Well, you know all to well that we cannot sleep! We just have to keep on moving.  
"I suppose you are right."  
Tasaka grinned widely, "Of course I am right!"  
  
Gui let his hand rest against the corner of the fence. Leaning into it, he spoke to Dash, who was several feet behind him, "This does not look good, how many corners have we been by?"  
Dash raised his hand and began to tick off fingers, "With this on, I think that makes four."  
"Four?"  
"Yeah, four."  
Gui moaned, "We just took four right turns."  
"And..."  
"You CANT take four right turns!"  
Dash blinked, "Shit man! You're right! What the hell is going on?"  
Gui looked around, taking off his glasses, he stuck them in a pocket. Frowning, he brought his hands together in front of him. His lips speaking without sound, his dry voice finally heralded out, "Vision!"  
A bright blast of white light shot them both in the face, Dash screamed. "Shit!"  
Gui continued to frown as he let his hands rest at his sides. Looking out, he saw past the trees. Further on, he saw the bright walls that were the fence, however, they now shone with a mysterious red.  
"Dammit!"  
Dash cried out, "What is up with my eyes?"  
"I cast a spell of true vision. You are seeing through the illusion we are in!"  
"Illusion?"  
Gui coughed as he spoke, "Someone has captured us in an illusion. There is no telling where we are! I think I can break free, but it will take time!"  
Dash blinked several times as his vision restored itself to the normal, "Who would do a thing like this?"  
"Whoever it is, they are a pretty badass mystic!"  
Dash drew his gun, "Whoever it is, they had better not show up here!"  
Gui did not have the heart to tell Dash exactly how frightened he really was.  
  
"How long have we been walking?"  
The question pounded into Sui as he awoke from another daze. "What?"  
Tasaka grumbled, "Well, we should have at least encountered a turn or something! This is one helluva long ass fence!"  
Sui leaned against a tree and spoke, "I suppose you are right. This is not normal, I don't remember this place being so damn huge."  
"Me either."  
Sui pushed himself back up to a standing pose, "We should keep going forward, it's not like this fence can go on forever."  
A new voice announced itself, "Or, maybe it can!"  
Startled, Sui spun to face where the voice had originated from, the forest off to the far left. "Bastard! Who are you?"  
The voice, quite calm and placid sounding, retorted, "My name is Goloth. I serve the coming of the Antithesis. I have been summoned to prevent you from finding the Place of Convergence. You, and your other friends will die here!"  
Tasaka yelled, "What have you done with Gui and Dash!?"  
"Nothing...yet."  
Sui took a martial stance, Tasaka quickly followed.  
The ominous voice cackled out at them, "You honestly hope to fight me? How amusing. While your friends are piteously caught in dimensional trap, I will kill you all here. Then, they will be next!"  
Tasaka spit at him and cried, "Bring it on! Show yourself!"  
The voice did as commanded.  
The creature called Goloth lurched out of the forest. What they had simply taken as being a tree was actually the body of the creature. Its monstrous brown arms swung out at Sui. Jumping over them, he barely was able to duck another one.   
Standing behind Sui, Tasaka roared as she drove her tonfa hard into the arm that made an attempt to assail her. Splintering the end of her tonfa, she felt the warm blood the monster wash over her hand.   
With a deafening scream, it retracted the arms, and moved back a few paces. "Fools!"  
At this, an enormous maw opened up upon the front of the tree-like monster. A bright light began to emanate from within its depths.  
Sui narrowed his eyes as the temperature began to rise. "RUN!"  
Tasaka was slightly slower with her reflexes than Sui was. The monstrous blast that erupted from the demon's mouth hit her dead on. She quietly yelped as the light consumed her.   
Tasaka held still as she saw Sui running to her. As her world went white, she heard the muffled sound of Suikashi screaming out her name.  
Then, the force hit.   
Cringing, Tasaka whined, as she knew her death had come. However, the heat receded, and the heir on menace in the area had gone.   
Before her, Suikashi stood, in front of him, his Persona, Susano was projected. Howling, the demon called Goloth fled into the woods.  
Tears sprang to her eyes as Tasaka watched Sui fall to his knees and collapse into the dirt. The image of Susano faded.  
Shaking him, Tasaka screamed, "You god dam idiot! What the hell were you thinking?"  
Sui barely moved, a trickle of blood fled the corner of his mouth.  
Tasaka leaned down and wrapped her arms around him.   
"Why do you allow him to do this? You cannot let this person gain anything over you."   
"I know, but..."  
"This is the second time he has done this for you. He wants something."  
"I don't think so, I think he just did not want to see me hurt!"  
"You're a fool! Do you honestly think anyone would help a tramp like you? Don't make me laugh! You are more pathetic than even I thought!"  
"Why do you always do this?"  
Tasaka pounded on Sui' s chest.  
"Yes, Tasaka, kill him!"  
"Why am I hearing this?"  
"It is what you want to hear, this is what is in your heart."  
"No..."  
"Yes, everyone leaves you alone. No one loves you! You are pathetic, a vagrant! Your own mother kicked you out because you tried to seduce your stepfather!"  
"I did not! He only told my mother that because I rejected him! That was not I!"  
"Yes it was. Don't you remember?"  
Tasaka screamed. Dropping her tonfa, she buried her head in the ground. "Who are you?"  
A piercing laughter perforated the night.  
Tasaka' s tear stained face, now smeared with dirt aimed out into the forest, "Demon! Where are you? Come one out, quit assailing me from within and fight me for real!"  
"So, you have seen through my ruse mortal. Alas, I cannot kill you just yet, for I have been called elsewhere, however, do not fret, we will meet again!"  
Tasaka looked down at Suikashi. His eyes were closed, and his skin looked terribly pale. Grabbing him about his arms, she hefted him up and sat him against the fence.   
"Come on Sui, wake up!" Tasaka slightly shook him by his shoulders. "Come on!"  
His eyes began to stir.   
"Come on, that thing is gone, wake up!"  
Breath began to move through his paled lips. His head lolled to one side. "Ta..saka..."  
"Yes Sui, it's me, wake up!"  
A slight laugh came out, "Heh, that hurt."  
Tasaka began to laugh as Sui' s eyes slowly opened and focused on her.   
  
Gui sat on the ground, his legs crossed. His eyes shut, they twitched as his brow furrowed in deep concentration.   
Dash looked once more at the strange circle Gui had drawn out with a stick on the ground. Strange symbols and designs glowed in the dirt whenever some strange foreign word would be spoken from Gui' s mouth.   
Sweat beaded down Gui' s forehead as his chanting began to become more frequent and intense. A feint rumbling could be heard in the distance.   
However, as the shaking of the very air began to increase, Dash grew more apprehensive. "Come on man! Hurry up, this isn't looking pretty!"  
Gui' s chanting continued.   
Dash raised his gun and fired as a bright shadow moved from out of the corner of his vision. Several more of these came from out of seemingly nowhere. Spitting out shouts and curses, Dash kept firing on these strange new incarnations of demons.  
"What the hell is taking so damn long?"  
Gui' s eyes broke apart, and he was standing in an instant, "These are guardians set here to protect this reality from one such as I!"  
"Looks like we're up to our knees in shit! My bullets aren't doing a god damned thing!"  
Gui sneered, "Then use your Persona fool!"  
Dash jumped to the side as one of the feral specters charged him. "Alright, Here goes! Persona!"  
The vision of the demon Abadon tore up from the earth under Dash's feet. Shrieking, the bestial hell god unleashed a flurry of fireballs into a cluster of the demonic spirits.   
Now bearing the appearance of spectral wolves, the demons howled and spat at the two. As Abadon faded away, Gui yelled out, "Persona!"   
Gui' s Persona, Dichu Long appeared. The emerald dragon reared back its scaled head and let fly with a huge stream of white gas. The gas surrounded the strange new demons, and they began to howl in rage.   
"What did you do?" Dash shouted.  
Gui nearly fell as one of the demons tried to slash at him with a wispy white claw, "I made an attempt to put them to sleep. It did not work!"  
"Well no shit!"  
Growling, Abadon once again was called forth by Dash. The fiery demon flexed its muscular arms and spread its black wings. Roaring, it held its hands aloft, energy began to gather at the apex of its hands.  
As his Persona gathered energy, Dash shouted out, "You're all mine!"  
As he said this, the eyes of Abadon flared, and it hurled the ball of energy at the creatures. The small spark ignited into a radical explosion. A dome of white light radiated from the spot, and bits of debris sailed towards the two.   
Gui shouted, "What did you do!"  
Laughing, Dash shouted back as he ducked a bit of exploded tree, "Not too sure, I just knew that my Persona could do this!"  
"Hah! I figured as much!"  
Gui cringed as the light of the explosion dimmed. A small fire still burned at where the center of the fiery event took place.   
Moving up the crater, Dash began to laugh. "Man, this Persona shit KICKS ASS!"  
Returning his pistol to its shoulder holster, he walked back and offered a hand to Gui.  
Ignoring his favor, Gui pushed himself up with his sword cane. "You need to be more careful of what you do. Good thing we are in a separate dimension, or that would have shown up from space."  
"Hey," he began, "Ya' wanna' make an omelet, you got to break a few eggs!"  
"Never mind, just be quiet so I can focus on getting us the hell outta here."  
"Whatever, dude!"  
  
Tasaka bent over the prone form of Suikashi. Even after she had healed him with her Persona, he still was unable to walk. Looking him dead in the face as she spoke, she had a hard time keeping eye contact; his strong gray eyes seemed to see right through her. "What do you think Gui and Dash are doing?"  
Slightly moaning as he spoke, Sui answered, "They are probably having a hell of a time laughing about how we probably have it off so well. They are likely almost back here already."  
"I don't know," Tasaka sounded doubtful, "Knowing those two, there are probably in a completely different world by now!"  
"Hah! I don't doubt that one bit!"  
"What next then?"  
Suikashi made an attempt at pushing himself up, "I guess we get my sorry ass moving and we continue on."  
Tasaka took hold of his arm as he wrestled to a standing position, "yeah, that damned tree thing may come back."  
Sui groaned, "Yeah, that would just make my day all right."  
As Suikashi stood up, he was suddenly surprised when Tasaki rushed him. Grasping him in a tight hug, she buried her face in his shoulder, "Thank you."  
Suikashi was lost for words.  
After a moment, she let go of him, looking down, she said to him, "Can you walk all right, we had better get back to looking."  
Sui took a couple of practice steps, near fumbling, he said to her as he regained his balance, "I am not too sure. You should go on, find Gui and Dash."  
"You know well that I can't leave you here!"  
Sui looked away from her, "I can't expect you to stay here. If that thing comes back, there is no use in it killing both of us!"  
"Damn you!"  
Suikashi blinked and whipped his head to face her, tears were in her eyes, and she was shaking her fists, "How dare you! You started all this, you did it! You dragged me into all of this, and you refuse to let me help you out! This is the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life!" Tasaka fell to her knees, wiping tears away with her arm, she sobbed sadly.  
"Tasaka..."  
"No. I knew I could not do this. What was I to expect? Nothing good can ever come to me, I swear, Fate is laughing at me."  
Sui bent down and took her hand, "Tasaka."  
She looked up to him.  
Smiling, he said through teeth clenched with pain, "Shall we go?"  
Her eyes softened as he spoke the words. She nodded, and she stood next to him.   
Sui took a few steps ahead of her, "I guess we should move on."  
She wordlessly stepped up behind him, and the two walked off from the scene. Sui walked with his hands in his pockets, not for any reason other than to apply pressure to the horrible wound in his side.  
  
Gui and Dash fell to the earth as the last remnants of the illusion jettisoned them out several feet above the ground. Landing with a thud, Gui stood up, only to be toppled over by the falling Dash.  
Beginning a typical string of his usual curses, Dash was shut up by a laughing Gui Shih.  
"What in the HELL are you laughing about?"  
Gui pushed himself to his feet, and took a few steps off to the right. Dash merely watched and blinked. A few feet away, a large gate stood out upon the large fence.  
Resting his shoulder against the frame of the doorway, Gui wiped a bit of sweat off of his brow, "you know, I think we have been in an illusion for quite some time. I am willing to be that we walked all of 100 feet that whole time."  
Dash growled, "Man, who the hell can do shit like that?"  
"I don't know, but I really don't want to meet him!"  
Gui leaned off of the frame, and drew his sword; "We should go out after Suikashi and Tasaka now."  
Dash nodded, "Sounds good to me. Although maybe," he breathed, "we should investigate the inside of the fence. If we can find another gate, or turn the power on, that might make it easier."  
Gui sighed, "You sure?"  
"No." and with that, Dash emerged himself into the darkness of the gate.  
Gui Shih intoned after him, "Shit man, he needs to learn a bit of restraint!"  
Running after him, Gui Shih failed to notice that they were both being watched.  
  
Tasaka moved through the hole in the fence only moments before Sui did. Finding a tree that had grown under the fence, Suikashi had managed to life up the fence enough so Tasaka could make it through.  
Once she was through, she held up the rough links so as Suikashi could slither his own path through.  
Upon both of them reaching the other side, Tasaka aided Sui in standing. Still fairly weak, Suikashi faltered as he tried to stand.   
Tasaka grumbled, "Are you sure you are okay?"  
Sui quaintly nodded and spoke through dry lips, "I will be fine. We should keep going."  
Tasaka smiled and Suikashi found his footing and proceeded to walk on.   
Suikashi felt slightly feint. He did not truly know why he kept this fact from Tasaka, other than the fact that she did not need to know. With all her talk of him helping her, his pride would never return if she learned that he did not think he could do this task.  
Letting her walk several feet his superior, Suikashi laughed to himself that it would be her protecting him.   
For the first time, Suikashi looked to his surroundings. Very little could be seen in the darkness of the night. Every few feet, the moonlight would reveal a stone corner of the building before them, as it ascended upwards; the body of the structure became gradually more visible. The megalith shaped building seemed quite ominous indeed.  
Suikashi yelled to Tasaka, "Shouldn't we look for Gui and Dash?"  
Tasaka blinked, "Oh yeah! I totally forgot about those two!"  
"You did what?"   
Tasaka jumped, and put her finger to her mouth in thought, "I guess with all of this excitement, I forget they existed."  
Suikashi nearly fell over.  
Kind of put out, Suikashi raised his voice, "Then maybe we should go and try to find them?"  
Laughing under her breath, Tasaka noted, "I was only joking. They should be around here somewhere, I say we cross over the other side of the fence's interior, that way, if they are already in, we will meet with them."  
"That sounds alright."  
"Great then, let's get moving!"  
The two moved on through the night at a similar pace they had been taking previously, Tasaka in the lead, and Suikashi tailing her from a few feet back.  
Finally, they came to the parallel fence. The nearly twenty foot tall wall continued down in both directions. "Which way should we look?"  
Suikashi answered her, "Maybe we should split up?"  
"I don't think so."  
Sui groaned, "And why not? Both of us are capable of defending ourselves."  
"Just because!"  
Not wishing to invoke her wrath, Sui nodded, "why don't we just go to the right?"  
Tasaka shut her eyes and nodded, "I suppose."  
"Good," Sui muttered as he began to walk along the fence.  
Shaking her head, Tasaka muttered under her breath, "I just can't let you go off as hurt as you are. But I can't just outright heal you, you would never live it down. Dammit, why are men so stupid?"  
"Did you say something, Tasaka?"  
She feinted humming a tune, "Nope, nothing, just singing to myself!"  
Looking at her with a weary eye, he responded, "Okay..."  
Once more moving along, Tasaka truly did begin to sing to herself. Listening attentively, Suikashi lost himself in her soft song.   
"Wonderful evening, isn't it?  
Suikashi faltered, "Who are you?"  
"Why do you ask such rhetorical of questions?"  
"What?"  
"You know well who I am."  
Feeling pushed upon, Suikashi answered, "You are another me."  
"Bright boy."  
Getting angry, Suikashi lost a bit of his resolve, "Why do you do this? All the time you are pestering me! Why is it that now you have chosen to speak to me?"  
The voice cackled, "Perhaps that I am not like you. Letting the voice of your Persona speak to you is reason enough!"  
"You are my Persona?"  
"No."  
"Then you are another me?"  
"Actually, no."  
"What are you? I am confused!"  
The cackling started up again. "What will you do now, I am coming for you? You cannot move, I have seen to that, you will be a most easy prey.  
"Bastard! You leave Tasaka alone!!!"  
  
Tasaka held Suikashi by the shoulders as he slumped against the ground. Feeling liquid trickle down his face unnerved him; Suikashi began to cough.   
"Suikashi, wake up! Wake up! I am having to do this kind of shit way to damn often!"  
Suikashi lay prone; blood began to pour from the wound in his side. Tasaka shouted, "Damn you! I knew you were hurt! Now you are laying here dying! Like it or not, your arrogant male ass is getting healed!"  
Suikashi heard her words, and if he was able to, he would have protested, however, the paralyzing spell placed upon him by the encroaching demon prevented him from even warning Tasaka.   
Every muscle in Suikashi' s body screamed as the he felt the nearness of the demon that had invaded his mind. Unaware of the danger, Tasaka stood and prepared to summon her Persona.  
However, as she shouted the words, "Persona," a ball of indigo light fell from the sky to her left. She had only time to look as it exploded.  
Being out of his vision, Suikashi could not see what dire fate had befallen Tasaka. His mind afire, he wanted to cry out at the fact that his wounded, dying body, could not move.   
His mouth silently worded, "Tasaka.... Persona."  
As his words left his mouth, the column of blue light formed around him. The frustration in his mind gave way to a new power within the ability of his Persona. The form of Susano floated up above him. In a rage, the emerald colored Samurai hurled its blazing sword into the heavens. Several bolts of lightening struck the shining sword, then it javelined to the earth around Suikashi. The crust of the land exploded, and shards of electricity rocketed out in all directions.  
A screaming sound was heard, and the voice of the demon entered Suikashi' s head again, "You surprise me, however, it will take more than your pathetic Persona to best me!"  
Finally, the mind-attacking demon confronted Sui face to face. Lithe and floating the demon appeared as a winged tentacle. Instead of a head, several more tentacles writhed. Upon the creature's body, several gaping wounds were open, dripping a neon blue substance, which could only be its blood.  
Suikashi thought, "Are you Goloth?"  
"Nay," the creature replied, "My name is Darkwill, the eater of minds. Long have I been assailing the minds of you and your allies, since you first awoke this evening, I have been with you. Now that you are close to erring the Master's plan, you must be dealt with."  
Suikashi growled. Willing his Persona back into existence, he cried out in his mind, "I will defeat you here! There is no redemption for one such as you!"  
The voice of Darkwill laughed in Sui' s mind.   
Slashing with its massive sword, Susano attempted to cleave the demon. However, the speed of Darkwill was amazing, and he easily maneuvered out of its reach.   
Suikashi felt ill, as he knew he was running out of mental strength to summon Susano.  
The creature called Darkwill hovered over to the incapacitated Suikashi. Its tentacles creeping across his face, neck, and head, he felt like he would retch. Sui forced his lips to work, "Get...the F*CK off of me!!!!"  
The creature merely laughed.   
Another voice came into audibility, "Can't you hear nothing! Listen to the man when he tells you to do something!"  
It was Dash and Gui.  
Gui drew his long sword and yelled out, "You can battle one prone boy, but can you take on two more of us?"  
The ragged voice of Tasaka yelled out, "Correction! Make that three!"  
Dash laughed out, "Yeah, don't count out the little lady!"  
Gui cried out again, "I have and idea, everybody, get in synch with each others' s minds, myself and Suikashi have done it before!"  
Without really knowing how, Gui, Tasaka, and Dash stood around Darkwill in a triangle. Laughing, the demon scorned them, "What? Do you think your pathetic Persona's can kill me?"  
As one, all three of the Persona users cried out, "Persona, " and all three of their alter ego's appeared in unison. Abadon, Rhea, and Dichu Long flared into existence.   
A pulsing glow emanated from Gui Shih, and suddenly, the rocks and gravel debris began to float into the air and spin around. Rushing into the monster, Darkwill flew up into the night sky to try and evade them.  
However, it was not fast enough, for freezing shards of ice began to coalesce themselves upon his body. Losing his altitude, Darkwill plummeted down into a waiting ball of flame.   
The screaming of the demon died out, and the heroes quickly ran to each other, as they thought the danger was cleared.  
Limping, Tasaka made her way to where Suikashi lay. Soon coming over, Gui put his finger to Sui' s throat, "He is barely alive. We have to do something!"  
Tasaka called out, "Persona!"  
As she summoned thus, Rhea emerged from her spirit. As the benevolent goddess flit above the earth, she gazed upon the entire group. All looking disheveled and generally weakened, Rhea spoke, "Healing spirit of nature, I call upon thee! MEDIA!"  
As Rhea dissipated, a glowing energy seeped into all four of the wounded people.   
Tasaka laughed as her wounded leg suddenly lost the pain, Gui and Dash felt suddenly refreshed, and lastly, Suikashi opened his eyes.  
Hugging him about the neck, Tasaka squeezed Sui. "You big asshole! You ever act like that again, and I will kick your stupid male ass!"  
Suikashi grinned, "I will keep that in mind!"  
Gui stretched his arms, then he walked a few steps away, sheathing his sword, "You know, it is a damn lucky thing that me and Dash found you when we did, else, that thing would have killed both of you."  
Dash laughed, "Yeah, we ran into some lame ass illusion. Otherwise we'd of been here much sooner!"  
Sui managed to sit up, "We encountered another demon before this one, that is how I got hurt."  
"Really," Gui questioned.   
"Yeah, it ran away when I deflected its attack. I am glad it did too, it was immensely powerful."  
Dash loaded his magnum and spoke, "what is with all these really tough demons showing up, before, they were all a bunch of pathetic pussies?"  
Suikashi made an attempt to get to his feet, but Tasaka pushed him back down, "You rest."  
Rolling his eyes, Sui added, "That demon, Darkwill, had the ability to read my mind, and he managed to manipulate my thoughts. It really messed me up! Then the bastard paralyzed me."  
Dash began to laugh, "Then it really was a good thing we showed up!"  
Sui stared daggers at him, "I guess."  
Tasaka threw a handful of dirt at Dash, "We are very thankful to you and Gui for saving us, however, you had better let it go, or I will kick you in your god dam balls!"  
Dash paled.  
Sui began to laugh his ass off.  
Gui chuckled and placed an unlit cigarette in his mouth.   
Tasaka, obviously not intending her comment to result in this response, stood there for a moment, then turned red. "You men are just...AWEFUL!"  
Then she stood up and walked away.  
All three of the men doubled over with laughter.  
Walking away at a brisk pace, Tasaka stormed by the scorched pit where Darkwill had vanished into. Small bits of flared debris still lingered in the air. A haze of heat obscured direct vision near about the burnt spot.  
Tasaka could not have foreseen what was about to happen.  
All in a sudden rush, a blur of darkness extended from the ruined crater. Crushing into Tasaka, the other three barely heard her muffled scream of shock and pain.  
The hulking mass that now stood out against the darkness turned a long neck and stared into the group before it. In a voice that froze blood, its tentacle-laden jaw worked as it spoke, "You will not interfere with the Convergence!"  
As it said thus, its heavily muscled, black form tensed and rose. The creature called Darkwill was now a large humanoid. Its oily black skin reflected the moonlight in an eerie fashion. Its large, powerful arms seemed grossly out of proportion with its shorter, and more squatted legs. With the posture of a gorilla, it lurched forward, the screaming Tasaka kicking and clawing at its monstrous black hand.   
"This girl is now mine! If you wish to recover her, you will come to the roof of this building and retrieve her!" As it heralded its challenge, its hulking form bent forward, and strange sounds of bubbling sounded aloud. All of the sudden, two gigantic wings burst from its back. As its flesh parted, a horrid stench of death and carrion was ejected. The nauseating smell fell out over the group, and only Sui was able to stand firm. Such was a look of hatred upon his face, that if looks could kill, the demon would be very, very dead.   
As the newly winged demon reared back and roared, Sui ran towards it. Being easily dwarfed by the monsters twenty feet of height, he still rushed upon it. Leaping into the air, he grabbed onto the creatures fist that was tight around Tasaka. Grabbing her hand, Suikashi held onto it, as he pummeled the creature's closed fist.  
Tasaka screamed, "Suikashi! It's no good, he's too strong!"  
Shouting, Suikashi would not falter, "NO!"  
With one powerful scream, he punched his fist right through the monster's hand. However, the beast was not pleased. Reaching over with its free appendage, it grabbed a hold of the infringing teen. Pulling him from his hand, Suikashi held fast to Tasaka' s hand, which was also intent on not letting go.  
"Dammit! Let her go, bastard!!"  
Darkwill laughed and pulled on his legs harder. Suikashi cried out in pain. Tasaka could not stand it any longer. Forcing her hand out of Sui' s, she began to weep as Darkwill flung Suikashi away, and took flight itself.   
Up into the night sky the demon sailed, the faint sobs of Tasaka slowed faded with its ascent.  
Gui lay still as the poisonous effects of the creature's powerful gas still affected him. Nearby, Dash rose, "For once I am glad I am used to powerful stench and toxins. All that drinking finally paid off. But still, where is Tasaka and Sui?"  
Gui rolled over, his eyes still watering, and he began to feel like retching, "I am not sure. I could not see nor hear much. That odor liked to have killed me."  
As the two helped one another to stand, the voice of Suikashi interceded, "It wants to make us waste our time. Kurokei said we have a set amount of time until the Convergence happens. He kept mentioning that he was to prevent us from altering it. However, we have to save Tasaka."  
Gui nodded, and Dash intoned, "Your damn right we have to save her! What kind of friends would we be otherwise?"  
Gui Shih laughed, "Well, I don't think we can go to much farther with what we have now."  
"What do you mean," asked Dash.  
"I mean, that creature Darkwill is stronger than us. We need to go after something to make us stronger. There is this place down the street from here, the Velvet Room, which is rumored to have a bit of Occult influence. I say we go there for help."  
Dash returned his pistol to his holster, "I think Gui is right, we need a bit more toughness."  
Suikashi looked longingly at the huge building in front of them. "You guys can go, I am going after Tasaka. You will have to come after me later."  
Gui narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure? Would that be wise?"  
"I don't care. It's my fault she was taken. If nothing else, you guys can finish our quest. I am not going to just leave her."  
Dash adjusted the belt on his coat and looked away, "I cannot just leave you here alone. Gui, you go to that place you spoke of, I am going with Suikashi. I can't leave Tasaka alone either."  
"Very well then, we will split up. I will make it back here as soon as I can."  
The three nodded, and separated, Gui went off toward the front gate, and Sui and Dash towards the large glass doors marking the entrance to the building.  
  
  
8 Hours  
Chapter Five  
  
  
Gui deftly moved between the parked cars along the sides of the road as he ran towards his goal. If he had any recollection of time, it was nearing daylight. The feint hint of blue in the sky, as well as the fact that he could see, was proper evidence of this fact.   
Seeing a few pedestrians on the sidewalks, he mostly tried to ignore them, as they looked ready to open up whatever businesses that they had. Taking time to walk, as he was out of breath, he made his best effort not to waste time.  
"Lot of good opening shop is gonna be with the power still off."  
  
Sui kicked through the large glass doors that marked the opening of the power company front office. Ignoring security cameras as well as the alarm, he took off at a dead run to the stairs.   
Dash laughed as he drew his firearm and followed after Sui, "You would think, that with the power off, the alarms would not work!!!"  
Suikashi did not respond with more than a feint laugh.  
Flinging open the door to the stairwell, he bounded up the first flight, and was nearly hurled back down as a large demonic blast of energy struck him.   
Crashing into Dash, Sui slightly smoldered. "Crap!"  
Dash took aim at the vacant spot on the stairs, laughing, he called back to Sui, who has still in slight shock due to the attack, "Hell, you need to quit blindly charging into places, you tend to get your ass kicked a lot!"  
Suikashi yelled to him, "I just hate taking my time with things!"  
As he said this, the creature that attacked him appeared. The creature was an odd beast seeming almost like a cloud of black boiling mist. Screeching and wailing, the demon began to rise off of the floor. A glow began to generate from its center.   
"Shit, its gonna shoot again!!!"  
Dash returned, "Yeah, I got him!"  
Taking aim, Dash emptied several rounds in the creature's center. The bullets could be heard hitting the wall behind it.   
Sui yelled, "Your gun isn't working, I don't think me kicking it will do any good either. It looks like we have to use our Personas!"  
"Looks that way."  
Both backing down the stairs, they were forced to outrun another blast of the demonic power. Falling and sliding on the smooth tile floor, Suikashi rolled behind the security desk, and Dash found himself looking straight up at a security guard.   
Laughing, he stared directly down the barrel of a handgun.  
  
Bounding up from behind the desk, Sui caught a glimpse of Dash's predicament out of the corner of his eye. The Cloud Demon hovered just inside the stairwell, and it began to charge up again. Cursing, Sui had to make a decision.  
Picking up a phone book from the desk, he sent it hurling at the guard. Flipping the desk on its side, he pushed it along towards the demon. Ramming the creature, he felt the cold of its incorporeal form wash over him.  
Dash, meanwhile, gritted his teeth as the security guard screamed out at him, "Put down the gun, boy!!!"  
Releasing his hold on his pistol, Dash was in the middle of wondering what in the hell Suikashi was up to when the projectile phone book hit. Colliding with the Guard's face, the book bounced and landed on Dash's chest. The Guard, looking rather gaunt, toppled over on top of Dash.   
Pocketing both his and the guard's guns, Dash jumped to his feet, and looked for Sui.  
As Dash ran to meet with him, Sui was in his own struggle. The creature was rather aggravated by the infringing office desk, and was hammering it hard as Sui attempted to block it in the stairs. A black tendril punched off a corner of the desk.   
Dash came up next to Sui and braced his shoulder against the barricade. "What are you doing?"  
"I have no freaking idea!"  
"Some leader you are!"  
Sui rolled his eyes and yelled, "What I don't get, is how your bullets did not hit it, yet it can hit this desk!"  
"What do you mean?"  
Sui breathed, "What I mean, is that it must only become tangible at certain times. If we could make it physical, then we could attack it without our Persona's!"  
Dash nearly jumped as the demon let out a particularly loud scream, "And what is wrong with using our Persona's?"  
"Two things. One is that every time we used them, we expend part of our energy. If we used them too much, we will not only be exhausted, but not able to summon them anymore. Second, is that we are in a real building, we could inadvertently blow this place up, and that would get me, you, and Tasaka no where!!"  
"Good point, so what do we do about him?"  
Sui gave the desk a good push that made the creature egress a bit farther into the stair well. "I think that this thing, in order to hit us, has to become physical. We wait till then, and you shoot it!"  
Dash looked at Sui, "You gonna be bait?"  
"Can you shoot and not hit me?"  
Dash laughed, "Maybe!"  
Sui groaned and made ready to spring away from his position, "Just see that you do!" Then, he jumped out, rolled, and faced the desk.  
Dash jumped to the side and scrambled to his feet.  
Drawing both of his pistols, he raised them towards the desk.   
All at once, the desk exploded and the demon lunged out. Suikashi jumped at the monster, sending his foot into its middle. Several black tentacles lashed Sui, sending him to the ground, and Dash emptied both clips into the Demon's body.  
The wall behind the monster was streaked with a yellowish fluid. The gaseous monstrosity fell to the ground, and dissolved into a puddle of black sludge.  
Dash blew the smoke from the barrels of his pistols. Sui picked himself up, and wiped a layer of blackened goop from his arm.  
"That is pretty f*cking sick looking man."  
Sui retorted, "Shut the hell up."  
Dash looked sorrowfully at his guns. "I am out of ammo, I need to find some more, or I am useless."  
"That's true."  
With a sidelong glance at Sui, Dash walked over to the swooned Guard. After a brief search he uncovered a set of keys. One such key, was labeled 'Security Armory.'  
Dash's eyes gleamed.  
Dash ran over to where the desk once was, and dug around until he came up with a large black book, "Says here, that the security room is on the second floor, to the left of the wiring closet."  
Sui asked, "Is it on our way?"  
"Yeah, and it also has the lock release for the roof door. We can kill two birds with one stone this way."  
"Good, let's get going."  
The two sprinted up the first set of stairs as fast as they could. Using their newly acquired keys, they unlocked the door to the second floor.   
Upon stepping out in the hallway, they felt an intense heat hit them. "You don't think there is another demon here, do you?"  
Sui answered, "maybe, you go on ahead to the security room, I will stand guard. Grab me something martial while your in their."  
"Martial?"  
"Yeah, something you hit people with!"  
Dash took off down the hall, "Whatever!"  
  
Gui stood in front of an empty store. Blinking several times, he was simply dumbfounded that the store he knew was here was not here. Reaching for the handle, he pulled on it to reveal that is was not locked.   
Stepping inside, he saw nothing but an empty inside lot. In one corner, stood a large object, with a white sheet cast over it. Walking up to it, he removed the sheet to reveal a several feet tall vanity mirror.   
  
Sui stepped down the opposite direction of the hall slowly. The feeling of heat grew ever more intense as he proceeded. A slight thumping sound, not unlike a heart, was being emitted from further down, and around a corner.  
Dash was in heaven. As soon as he unlocked the door and stepped in, the morning light creeping through the tall windows illuminated the vast foray of weapons.  
"This Sebec is pretty strange, what does a power plant need with an arsenal like this?"  
Sorting through a rack of guns, he came across two beauties. Two, very nice, M50 fully automatic 9mm handguns, pocketing them, he also procured a full ammo box of 9mm rounds, and dropped them in a black bag with a shoulder strap.   
"HAHAAHA! 900 rounds of freedom baby!"  
Dash continued to search through the selection for something for Sui. Hanging on the wall, several tactical vests were displayed. On their right breast, each had several throwing knives. Taking about 10 of these for Sui, and grabbing a straight baton, Dash reluctantly made his way out. As he left, he absentmindedly picked up a couple of gas grenades.  
  
Sui continued on towards the sound of the beating heart. Getting slightly more nervous, he reluctantly slid his head around the corner. What he saw made him turn around, and run back the other way, fast.   
  
  



End file.
